Opinion
Why I (Almost) Put a BLM Bumper Sticker on My Car Even Though I Don’t Agree with the BLM Movement as a Whole
I was one of those people who said “Well of course black lives matter, but….”
The problems I had (and still have) with several of the more radical organizations under the Black Lives Manner banner are substantial, and I think there are many parts of the movement that have destructive policy goals and a counterproductive approach to ensuring racial justice, peace and reconciliation.
I will not go over all those points of disagreement here but make reference to the excellent piece by Ryan Bomberger in Townhall . I also must state unequivocally that the violence we’ve observed over the past couple of weeks in our country is completely unacceptable, particularly given the devastation caused in largely minority communities and the additional deaths that occurred.
Opinion
Dan Cederborg
Local Advocates Show Grace and Strength
Our own black community and civil rights leaders here in Fresno are to be commended for their grace and strength shown by demonstrating, making their calls for reform, and engaging the political process rather than resorting to senseless violence. I note with particular admiration the action by the Fresno State branch of the NAACP which, upon learning of rumors of a violent protest action near the Riverpark shopping center in North Fresno, put out announcements that the rumors were false and called for non-violence. May these efforts at constructive confrontation and communication be rewarded.
[rlic_related_post_one]I assume most Americans, like me, recognize that there has been tremendous, if slow, progress on racial equality in our country over the past few decades. Yet I am heartbroken that tragedies like what happened to George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery just seem to keep occurring.
I saw Van Jones on the news shortly after the Floyd murder expressing his despair over all his efforts to engage the larger culture on racial equality issues and one could hear his concern that we were close to losing the ability as a country to engage peacefully and constructively on these issues to make things better. Jones’ anguish resonated with me although I usually don’t agree with him on much politically.
Something Must Be Done
And maybe that’s the place to start. To admit that we don’t have the answers; that we don’t know what can be done. But we resolve that something must be done.
We obviously won’t agree on all the answers to the question about what should be done. Personally, I don’t believe what is referred to as institutional racism in this country is as pervasive as many do. On the other hand, this is still a country in which supposedly law-abiding citizens see a black man jogging through their neighborhood and take out after him in a pickup with their shotguns and he ends up getting shot. It’s difficult if not impossible to reconcile these two points.
Growing up in Oakland, I had black friends, but now as an adult living the last 20 years in Central Valley cities, I know maybe two black people, and neither one of them that well. And so I considered “doing something” to advance the cause of racial equality in our country. And that included putting a Black Lives Matter bumper sticker on my car.
I thought that my black fellow citizens needed to know that white people get a little bit of what they are saying. Maybe I just liked the irony of being a conservative Republican driving a red Prius with a BLM sticker on it.
Improvement Requires Individual Soul-Searching
In the end, I decided against putting the BLM bumper sticker on my car. It would have been just another empty virtue signal by a white guy; something that made me feel better without actually changing anything. The time for no-cost verbal messages of support for racial equality is over and has been for a long time.
For me, it has to start small. As I’ve said, I really don’t know what all the answers are and we will often disagree on specific actions or policies. I will make and effort to get to know more black people in Fresno and listen to their experiences. I believe more love, communication and understanding are the most critical factors for us to repair this breach between us. This is primarily a spiritual concern dealing with evil that all of us carry in our hearts.
[rlic_related_post_two]Any improvement in the situation will involve a lot of individual soul-searching. But I will also commit my time and money to improving the inequities in our primary and secondary education systems which handicap so many of our black and other minority students and prevent them from experiencing the full advantages and privileges of America. I will support reasonable reforms to our prison and justice systems.
And I will stop saying “black lives matter, but…..”
About the Author:
Dan Cederborg is an attorney who practices in Fresno.
Shelley
June 28, 2020 at 3:50 am
I got a blm bumper sticker because i care and because it scares me thinking it may make me a police target. As a white person I need to try and understand what it might be like getting in your car everyday and being a target. It isn’t much and I’ve felt the same as you that’s it’s lame to say it in a bumper sticker, but for me, it’s one part of how I’m trying to be a good white ally.
Dan
July 2, 2020 at 10:55 am
The decision was a close call, I can tell you that. I think the important thing you express is your awareness. It seems to me one of the big problems in this situation is not necessarily white privilege but white cluelessness. We don’t think about it at all because what is right around us looks fine.
Steverino
August 31, 2020 at 10:59 am
Black Lives Matter supporters vociferously object to saying All Lives Matter. If Black Lives Matter but all lives don’t, that infers only black lives matter. That makes BLM a racist movement, and it’s quite obviously a hate whitey movement. Of course, I oppose that. If you claim to oppose racism, you should, too.
If black lives matter, why does BLM shoot dead black people, destroy their businesses and lay waste to entire black neighborhoods? Their rhetoric does not match their actions. Furthermore, BLM ignores that most blacks killed are killed by other blacks, over two thousand of them. By contrast, the cops kill about 235 blacks, the overwhelming number of whom were trying to kill the cops who shot them. Seventy percent of those got shot because they opened fire on the police. Most of the rest attacked the cops who shot them with cars, street debris, the cops own equipment, or fists and feet. Blacks kill ten times as many innocent blacks as cops do. BLM’s claim that cops are shooting blacks willy nilly is simply a lie, but perfectly describes what blacks themselves are doing to each other.
Black people are their own worst enemy. Most of their problems are caused by their own bad decisions. To succeed in America, all you need do is graduate from high school, take any job that pays, and wait until marriage to have children and you will ascend into the middle class unless you have some really bad luck. Yet, many blacks disdain school and drop out, live on welfare, and have children with multiple partners out of wedlock, and they blame white racism for their bad situation. Many blacks see racism in the clouds, in their soup, in the dust bunnies under their bed. Black Lives Matter is an expression of that attitude, which is completely false.