There is a story that finished off any sympathy I had for the folks screaming about "Black Lives Matter" which was, admittedly, dwindling. It isn't the story you may think about.
St. Louis Police Shoot, Kill 18-Year-Old After Home Search, Associated Press, By JIM SALTER, ST. LOUIS — Aug 20, 2015
It was bad enough the other day when a disabled WWII veteran needed help and was robbed by thugs. The last time someone on TV used the term thug, some yahoos said it was a racist term. Even though it isn't.
thug
1. a violent person, especially a criminal.
synonyms:ruffian, hooligan, vandal, hoodlum, gangster, villain, criminal;
2.historical a member of a religious organization of robbers and assassins in India. Devotees of the goddess Kali, the Thugs waylaid and strangled their victims, usually travelers, in a ritually prescribed manner.
They were suppressed by the British in the 1830s
This "Black Life" didn't matter so much when 2 crimes were committed against him.
That area also is near where a 93-year-old veteran who was part of the Tuskegee Airmen — black World War II pilots — was the victim of crimes twice within a few minutes Sunday, being robbed and then having his car stolen. The veteran was unhurt, and his car was found Tuesday blocks from where it was taken.
Pointed a gun at police officers? What did he expect would happen?
At a press conference earlier in the day, Dotson said two suspects fled from the home about noon Wednesday on the city's north side before the 18-year-old turned and pointed a handgun at the officers, who shot him. That suspect, identified later in a statement by police as Mansur Ball-Bey of St. Louis, died at the scene. Police are searching for the second suspect, who they said is believed to be in his mid- to late teens.
But hey, some folks will use any excuse to loot, burn, destroy a city and then pretend they were justified. Honestly there are some good folks protesting with good intentions however they are totally oblivious to being used to give thugs the opportunity to do what they want.
I grew up in a large Northern city in the 70's. We didn't judge on color. We judged on how they acted and what they did. Color didn't matter to most of us since most of us had friends because we liked them and they liked us. It wasn't about White, Black, Hispanic, Native, or Asian any more than it was about what color their hair was.
We had good cops and some bad ones back then too and we knew who the bad ones were. Folks were judge for what they did.
I've been thinking a lot about those days. Maybe we had more common sense back then. We sure as hell had a lot more common decency.
This generation seems to think they invented protesting. What can we expect when were talking about a generation unable to learn what history really was?
The WWII veteran should have inspired a lot more reaction considering what he did with his life. He served during a time when Black soldiers were not just treated like crap in the military, they couldn't even eat at a lunch counter with White soldiers. The list goes on yet he was willing to go through all of it for a purpose greater than selfish considerations. Had it not been for veterans like him, history would have been a lot different.
Yet this same man managed to live 93 years after seeing it all, doing it all, only to look back at his car being driven away by thugs after other thugs stole his wallet. When do the Black Lives matter folks actually prove they really care about all Black lives?
They want us to not think too hard about what they say when what they do doesn't match up. The press plays right along because social media drives the reporting they do now instead of anything else.
This generation didn't invent outrage. They didn't invent protesting. They sure as hell didn't invent putting others first. What they did invent was false outrage to justify themselves.
I can't help but remember when Michael Brown was being mourned and his family asked for peace at least on the day they were burying him. Protestors didn't care. They didn't care when the truth came out afterwards.
But other citizens point to the details of the grand jury and subsequent Department of Justice investigation. Both ultimately determined Wilson was justified in the shooting and did not violate Brown's civil rights, saying the evidence showed Brown scuffled with Wilson in his vehicle and did not show Brown was surrendering when he was shot and killed.
Those details came long after months of protest that ultimately spawned a movement called Black Lives Matter. The details of Brown's death were often overshadowed by the pent-up frustration that boiled over in the black community about the way police treat and target them.
When do they hold drug dealers accountable for destroying lives? When do they hold criminals accountable for robbing stores and destroying neighborhoods? When do they protest down a city street after another child is killed while playing in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or even doing homework in her own home? Yes this just happened in Ferguson and this is the story that finished off any thoughts of who really matters to them and who doesn't.
Jamyla Bolden, 9, was fatally shot as she sat on her mother's bed in in Ferguson, Mo., on Tuesday
She was a Black 9 year old child but I guess her life didn't matter either.
