Ed Brodow - This Week’s Riots: Using the Race Card to Justify Violence

By Ed Brodow:

Leftists have argued that the US is a racist white nation bent on oppressing its minorities. The Left, says author Ben Shapiro, wants to portray America as “an incurable mass of bigoted whites.” In a devious attempt to foment racial discord, liberals claim that “white privilege” gives Caucasians invisible prerogatives that go along with their skin color. The effort to create a race war was achieving lukewarm success until last week. An isolated incidence of police brutality in Minneapolis gave the Left an excuse to scream SYSTEMIC RACISM. Many Democratic politicians, under the guise of lamenting George Floyd’s demise, are tripping over each other as they get in line to apologize for being white.

"We need systemic change to address the racism in our state and our country,” declared Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. “We must be willing to face it, with clear eyes and open hearts, recognizing that folks who look like me have been part of creating, exacerbating, and benefiting from the systems that we must now turn to dismantle.” Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said, “Much of the violence and destruction, both here in Seattle and across the country, has been instigated and perpetuated by white men.” These men, who “experience the height of privilege,” are taking over “peaceful demonstrations” by people of color, Durkan added. “The black community is not responsible for what’s happening in this country right now,” says Governor Gavin Newsom of California. “We are. Our institutions.” Addressing the riots in his state, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York said, “The real issue is the continuing racism in this country and it is chronic and it is endemic and it is institutional and it speaks to a collective hypocrisy.”

The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police was a tragedy but it cannot justify such an obscene level of violence and destruction. The thugs who are looting and burning our cities don’t give a rat’s ass about Mr. Floyd. All they care about is taking down the USA. They hope to get away with violence by blaming it on racism. The Floyd incident raises two critical questions: (1) Is America plagued with systemic racism that calls for the dismantling of our social and political institutions? (2) Do racist police and the justice system deliberately discriminate against African-Americans?

Systemic racism does not exist in the United States. Individual instances of racism are occurring and always will occur—against both blacks and whites—but to suggest that racism is institutionalized is to deny the colossal changes that have occurred since the civil rights movement that took place more than 50 years ago. "The oppression of black Americans is over with," acknowledged respected African-American author Shelby Steele. “White institutional racism has disappeared from our society,” agreed Scott Greer, author of No Campus for White Men. African-Americans are accorded special privileges in every nook and cranny of our society. We elected a black president—twice. What we are experiencing is not systemic racism. It is systemic violence.

If we wanted to be truthful about the causes of social disruption in the US, we would have to point a finger not at white America but rather at the African-American community. In spite of a continuing history of violence, blacks are not being held accountable for their behavior. It is not white privilege that's preventing blacks from doing better, says David Horowitz, author of Black Skin Privilege and the American Dream, it is African-American behavior such as the propensity to commit violent crimes, the inability to build more intact families, contempt for education, and unwillingness to accept personal responsibility. This self-destructive behavior is ruining the lives of millions of blacks. Wall Street Journal editorial board member Jason Riley, who is black, has accused civil rights leaders of being more interested in “blaming the problems of blacks on white racism” than getting to the real causes.

The leftist canard that racist police and the justice system deliberately discriminate against African-Americans is a lie. In 2020, it is ridiculous to suggest that white police are gunning for blacks. In her book, The War on Cops, Heather Mac Donald raises this question: Should African-Americans be held responsible for their own behavior—including criminal behavior, or are they victims of a racist society? Mac Donald concludes that blacks cannot shirk responsibility for their own behavior. "The fault lies primarily with the black criminals," says political commentator Dennis Prager, "not with a racist society." The bulk of responsibility, says former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, is on African-Americans "who commit murder eight times more per capita than any other group in our society." Black talk show host Larry Elder agrees, saying that, "Numerical disparities result from differences of offending, not because of racism." 

Segue to this week’s riots. Pusillanimous white politicians who virtue signal by blaming the riots on white racism are succumbing to political pressure from the Left, instead of taking action to prevent the anarchy that is gripping the country. Because they depend on the black vote, Democrats won’t do anything that might offend the African-American community. They seem to feel that confessing their white privilege relieves them of responsibility for stopping the violence. The result can be witnessed in the trashing of our cities.

Some leftist politicians are openly rooting for the violence. “Yes, America is burning, but that’s how forests grow,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. Although she tried to backtrack by denying that she supports violence, Healey’s meaning was clear. “By choosing to highlight this insane analogy, it should be clear to Massachusetts residents that no matter what else Democrats like Attorney General Healey say, they will always condone mob tactics,” said Jim Lyons, chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party. “The Radical Democrats, led by the likes of Attorney General Healey, sat back and watched as cities went up in flames over the weekend, and are now openly admitting that this is all part of their plan to fundamentally change America by any means possible.” Healey and her compatriots on the left hope that looting and burning will further their desire to divide and conquer. If it also reduces Trump’s chances for re-election, so much the better.

The idea of fundamentally changing America was the brainchild of Barack Obama. His ideological heirs have found a new way to get there via looting and burning. Let’s hope they don’t succeed.