Dear Editor:
Recent “Black Lives Matter” protests and articles by ECM Publishers have me confused. Two weeks ago a commentary was written by Joe Nathan, “Protests may be uncomfortable, but necessary,” praising the work done by the NAACP President Nekima Levy-Pound yet in the same article gives statistics that show only 58 percent of Black-Americans graduate high school and Black-Americans rank toward the bottom for median family income in Minnesota. These figures do not deserve praise.
On Nov. 2, 2015 ECM published an editorial called “Investing in youth to prevent crime and poverty.” In that article they listed numerous stats about poverty including, “There are 112 areas of concentrated poverty in the metro region and of the 370,000 people living in those areas the overwhelming majority, 275,000 are people of color.” Also stated is, “Blacks represent 5.2 percent of Minnesota’s total population but represent 37 percent of the prison population.” Read the article as it is filled with real life numbers on our government programs.
By now some of you are screaming “He’s a racist.” I am just looking at the big picture and here is what I see. “Black Lives Matter” is protesting the shooting of Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old black man, a two-time convicted felon, who had committed domestic violence against his girlfriend and was interfering with paramedics as they tried to help her and then (allegedly) fought with cops when they were called. While it is unfortunate that he was killed, this is the type of man you rally around. Jamar could have been the poster child for what is wrong with “black society.”
If you want to protest “black issues” start with that 58 percent graduation rate. If you don’t have an education you can’t get a decent job, if you don’t have a decent job you can’t support yourself and your family, if you can’t support yourself and your family you either go on a government program or you turn to crime. If you go on a program or turn to crime what kind of values does that set for the next generation. None. The cycle repeats. Public school is free and is not denied to anyone. There are only two reasons you can’t graduate, lack of mental capacity or lack of effort. No amount of programs can fix the problem until it is realized by “black society” that it has to start from within.
Respect is not given it is earned. Respect can be earned by getting an education and earning a respectable living and installing good values into your kids. Become a productive member of society not a burden to society. Black on Black crime happens every day yet no protests point the finger back at themselves. As Joe Nathan’s article was called “Protests may be uncomfortable, but necessary,” maybe Black Lives Matter should take that advice.
Brian Sutton
Braham