"Black Lives Matter" Is Liberal Hypocrisy at Its Worst

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a black man who had served four years in prison for armed robbery, was killed (held down with a knee on his neck, causing him to choke, while in custody and wearing handcuffs) by a white policeman in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after being arrested under suspicion of passing counterfeit money. A video of the killing soon appeared online, and clearly showed that the fatal action taken by the policeman was wrong, excessive, and unnecessary.

The video quickly caused a widespread response of horror and repugnance. Derek Chauvin, the policeman who killed George Floyd, was fired and charged with both third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Self-serving condemnations of his overt brutality filled the public domain, and crowded demonstrations (many becoming wildly violent and all held without any heed for the dangers of Covid-19) were seen in major cities throughout the United States and abroad.

No person of good will could avoid being sickened by the cold, deliberate manner in which George Floyd was killed. Unfortunately, rather than provoking an urgent occasion of honest debate, it has, instead, resulted in a mindless outpouring of hollow gestures and rampant exhibitionism, recklessly promoted under the guise of “protest,” and happening during the extremely hazardous conditions of a worldwide pandemic. A rational observer can only be appalled.

Who bears the deepest guilt in the killing of George Floyd? Clearly, the policeman who abused him until he ceased to breathe is undeniably guilty, but is it actually surprising that black people are mistreated, and killed, in a racist nation that was founded by a gang of white, wealthy slaveholders? (Thomas Jefferson, for one, owned more than 600 slaves.) It is one thing to denounce racism. It is quite another thing to fully acknowledge the loathsome truth of America's vile, depraved, murderous history.

Nothing worthwhile has been, or is ever likely to be, accomplished by the current spate of protests. Slogans have been heard, windows have been broken, buildings have been burned, and statues have been toppled, but the human community does not benefit from such hooliganism. Those who childishly seek to glorify themselves by prancing through the streets, blithely shouting "Black Lives Matter" at the top of their voices are, at best, expressing liberal hypocrisy at its worst.