When I’m not on a business trip with a crappy Internet connection, I’ll try to articulate my point of view a bit better. It’s basically that a movement is effectively what it’s perceived to be, not what it is. It’s not perceived well. It’s so bad, in fact, if I associated with it, I couldn’t even start a conversation about the real issues with people I know. Many of them believe in the cause and would work for change, but they don’t like the movement. I’m not suggesting anything to the movement or trying to tell them what to do in saying this, BTW. It’s just the view from where I’m standing.

White people I know see burned cities, looting, increased homicide rates, dead cops, a parade of another minority that was just massacred and doesn’t yet even have legal protection in half the states getting interrupted and demands made, interruption of political rallies for people who stood up to win the civil rights they have and would fight for more, etc. It’s tough to convince people to have another look.

I don’t think another body at a protest would make a difference, and the whole protests get attributed to Black Lives Matter by the media rather than standing with black people. You can’t even go without the association. The media are riding it right to the bank.

On a side note, I’m reading a fascinating book called The End of Average that was recommended to me for a totally different subject but is completely relevant. I’m only about 15% of the way through it, but it seems to explain a lot about how we treat each other. I will be writing much more on how I think we’ve dehumanized society (and police) in general and how I think it’s causing what’s going on.

I’m having a very interesting conversation with Ned Rollo that I plan to continue when I get back. Some of it is pretty heavy and I can’t give appropriate attention while I’m up here. He’s been making a good case that it’s police culture that we should be fighting. They go in well meaning and most end up indoctrinated. I’d say they don’t even appear human in many cases after watching how Lavish Reynolds was treated.

I’m not saying it’s right that the whole groups (BLM, blacks, whites, or cops) are held accountable for certain actions, but that’s what we have to work with. I’ll try to be more articulate when I get back. In the end, I don’t want to vent anger. I want to make change. That requires strategy along with tactics. Anger and reacting is just tactics.

I hope you find a good way to be and feel effective.