There is an updated version of this blogpost downloadable here.
Sociologists study the meaning that is created and shared by society. They also study racial and social groups. Sometimes within the same culture there can be a disparate message from the same cultural symbol. Here is a recent example from our own community:
Sociologists study the meaning that is created and shared by society. They also study racial and social groups. Sometimes within the same culture there can be a disparate message from the same cultural symbol. Here is a recent example from our own community:
The
flag on the far right (in the picture above) is sometimes called the thin
blue line US flag or the blue lives matter flag.
The idea of a thin blue line was an allusion to an old poem from the 1800s
called the thin red line. In the early
1900s an American poet used thin blue line to refer to the Army. But by the 1960s it was referring to law
enforcement. The expression refers to
the thin blue line that separates order from disorder and a legal society from
a criminal one. That blue line that
separates the two is law enforcement. Sometime
after that a symbol/flag of a black background with blue stripe (pictured to
the right) was used to represent a "thin blue line" and thus, police.
For more on the history of the expression and original flag see this link:
However, this flag has a very different symbolic meaning to other Americans. An examination of the history of the flag reveals that the flag pictured in the commons is a very recent creation. It was created by a private group in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. This gives it a meaning of either being for Black Lives Matter or for the police.
To understand the history and baggage that the flag carries with it, one must examine the history of violence against police and the Black Lives Matter movement which begins at the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012.
Violence Against Police
Violence against police officers has always been considered heinous. Numerous memorials exist to remember police who have served their communities and given their lives in the line of duty. These memorials have never included the thin blue line US flag. Even after 9/11, there were flags created to memorialize first responders. These flags didn't include that thin blue line US flag either. Below is the Chicago Police Memorial which does not include the flag.
White Supremacy Violence
Below are three different articles detailing violence against police by white supremacists. This violence goes back to at least 1990.
Below are three different articles detailing violence against police by white supremacists. This violence goes back to at least 1990.
https://amp.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article196423174.html
White and far-right extremists kill more cops, but FBI tracks black extremists more closely, many worry
White and far-right extremists kill more cops, but FBI tracks black extremists more closely, many worry
BY KATE IRBY
JANUARY 24, 2018
"White supremacist and other far-right extremist groups have killed 51 police officers since 1990, according to a report published by the Anti-Defamation League last week. Left-wing extremist groups, including black nationalists, killed 11 during the same period.
In 2017 alone, black nationalists and other leftists killed no police, while white supremacists and anti-government extremists fatally attacked a police officer and two corrections officers, the report said."
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center published “End of Watch: 15 Law Enforcement Officers Murdered by Domestic Extremists Since the Oklahoma City Bombing,” an article that detailed the tragic deaths of 15 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty during violent confrontations with domestic extremists in the 10 years since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Since the publication of that article, an additional 40 law enforcement officers have been murdered by domestic extremists, a significant increase. The deadliest year was 2016, in which eight officers were murdered, followed by 2009, with seven deaths. Individuals who were either members of white supremacist groups or who subscribed to white nationalism were responsible for nine deaths, as were individuals who held antigovernment beliefs... neo-Nazi prison gangs (7), sovereign citizens (6)
White supremacists and other far-right extremists have killed far more people since Sept. 11, 2001, than any other category of domestic extremist. The Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism has reported that 71 percent of the extremist-related fatalities in the United States between 2008 and 2017 were committed by members of the far right or white-supremacist movements.
So, there was a clear threat against police since at least 1990. The threat was more often than not, white supremacists or anti-government vigilantes. However, that did not inspire the thin blue line US flag.
Black Lives Matter Movement
The Black Lives Matter Movement was started as a response specifically to the death of Trayvon Martin, but generally to the long history of black Americans being killed and no one being held accountable. In this particular case, Trayvon Martin was talking on his cell phone with his girlfriend when he was confronted by George Zimmerman who was specifically told by 911 responders to remain in his car. Instead, Zimmerman got out and shot Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman was found not guilty and the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter was born. Below is a timeline that details the events that created Black Lives Matter and the thin blue line.
February 26, 2012 Trayvon Martin
George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain in Sanford, Florida, calls 911 to report "a suspicious person" in the neighborhood. He is instructed not to get out of his SUV or approach the person. Zimmerman disregards the instructions. Moments later, neighbors report hearing gunfire. Zimmerman acknowledges that he shot Martin, claiming it was in self-defense.
July 2013 Black Lives Matter Movement Begins on Twitter
The movement began with Alicia Garza using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin in February 2012. From The Guardian, Garza logged on to Facebook. She wrote an impassioned online message, “essentially a love note to black people”, and posted it on her page. It ended with: “Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter.” Garza’s close friend, Patrisse Cullors, read the post in a motel room 300 miles away from Oakland that same night. Cullors, also a community organiser working in prison reform, started sharing Garza’s words with her friends online. She used a hashtag each time she reposted: #blacklivesmatter. The following day, Garza and Cullors spoke about how they could organise a campaign around these sentiments. More on the history here from the Smithsonian. Also detailed on Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Lives_Matter
Despite the hashtag, there
were still numerous high-profile cases of black Americans being killed and no
one held accountable. Below are a few of them.
April 30, 2014: Dontre
Hamilton (Milwaukee)
Dontre
Hamilton, 31, was fatally shot 14 times by a police officer in a Milwaukee
park. The officer was responding to a call from employees at a nearby Starbucks
alleging that Hamilton, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was
disturbing the peace. The officers who arrived first determined that Hamilton
wasn't doing anything illegal. Officer Christopher Manney showed up later and,
after trying to pat Hamilton down, engaged in a struggle with him that led to
the shooting. Manney was not charged.
June 8, 2014: Assassination of Las Vegas Police
Jerad
and Amanda Miller, a married couple who are white and American
citizens, scouted a diner in Las
Vegas. When they observed two police
officers eating there, they fatally assassinated one officer in the back of the
head with a handgun, then shot the other in the throat.
Both Millers then killed the second officer by shooting him multiple times
after he attempted to fire back.[10] Afterwards, they dragged the officers'
bodies out of their booth and covered one with a yellow Gadsden flag and a swastika. They pinned a note on the other body, which
read: "This is the beginning of the revolution." They also stole both
officers' guns and ammunition. During the restaurant shooting, the Millers
loudly declared to other patrons that it happened to be the start of "a
revolution".
It is important to note that
the Millers' assassination was a targeted attack on law enforcement which
included a note and eye witness accounts confirming such. However, this did not result in Blue Lives
Matter or the blue stripe American flag.
In the meantime, numerous other people of color were killed by police in
questionable circumstances.
July 17, 2014: Eric Garner (New York)
Eric
Garner, 43, was killed after he was put in an illegal chokehold for 15 seconds
by a white police officer — allegedly for selling loose cigarettes. Garner said
"I can't breathe" 11 times as he was held down by several officers on
a sidewalk. The
officer who put Garner in the chokehold, Daniel Pantaleo, was not charged. Garner's
death sparked peaceful protests across the nation, with demonstrators adopting
the phrase "I Can't Breathe" as a symbol and slogan of protest. Video is at the
link below. You can see Mr. Garner with
his hands up and you can hear him say "I can't breathe".
Aug. 5, 2014: John Crawford III (Dayton, Ohio)
John Crawford, 22, was shot and killed by a police officer at a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio. There did not appear to be a confrontation with the police, and Crawford was unarmed — he had been holding a toy BB gun. The officers involved in the shooting, Sean Williams and David Darkow, were not charged.
John Crawford, 22, was shot and killed by a police officer at a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio. There did not appear to be a confrontation with the police, and Crawford was unarmed — he had been holding a toy BB gun. The officers involved in the shooting, Sean Williams and David Darkow, were not charged.
Mr. Crawford holding a pellet gun that he picked
up off the shelf at a Walmart before he is killed by police within seconds of
their arrival.
Aug. 9, 2014: Michael
Brown Jr. (Ferguson, Missouri)
Unarmed
Michael Brown, 18, was shot and killed by Ferguson police officer Darren
Wilson.
In
November, a grand jury declined to charge Wilson in the fatal shooting. Brown's
death and the lack of charges against Wilson sparked protests, some of them
violent, in Ferguson and across the nation. For more on Ferguson and the protests that ensued, see my post about it here.
Aug. 11, 2014: Ezell Ford (Florence,
California)
Ezell
Ford, a 25-year-old mentally ill man, was shot three times, including once in the back,
by a white police officer. He was unarmed.
The investigation is still ongoing, but it
has been placed on an "investigative hold". So far, no charges have been filed against Sharlton
Wampler and Antonio Villegas, the two officers involved.
Police were on the scene for just seconds when they shoot Mr Powell is shot dead a second after this photo.
Aug
19, 2014 Kjieme Powell, St. Louis
Just 10 days after Michael Brown was shot to
death, this happened in nearby St Louis.
The police were called because this man stole two soft drinks from a
convenience store. The police showed up and within 20 seconds the police
had shot him 12 times. Then they proceeded to handcuff the lifeless body
with hands behind his back. The video is
available at the link below.
Sept. 4, 2014 Dashcam Video Shows State Trooper Shooting Black
Man Reaching for His Driver’s License
State
trooper rolls up on Mr. Jones and says can I see your license please? Jones reaches for his license and the
policeman shoots him in a split second. Afterwards, the man says why did you
shoot me? Video is available at the link
below.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2014/09/south-carolina-dashcam-shooting-sean-groubert-levar-jones-incident-on-video.html
https://youtu.be/XhAklMWqLnI
October 2014
Laquan McDonald (Chicago)
Nov. 13, 2014: Tanisha Anderson (Cleveland)
Tanisha
Anderson, 37, died after officers in Cleveland allegedly slammed her head on the
pavement while taking her into custody. Anderson's
family said she had bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Nov. 20, 2014: Akai Gurley
(Brooklyn, New York)
Akai
Gurley, 28, was shot and killed by a police officer while walking in a dimly
lit New York City public housing stairwell with his girlfriend. Gurley, who was
unarmed, was pronounced dead at a hospital. New York Police Department
Commissioner Bill Bratton called the shooting an "accidental
discharge."
Nov. 22, 2014: Tamir Rice
(Cleveland)
Tamir
Rice, 12, was shot and killed by Cleveland police after
officers mistook his toy gun for a real weapon. The two police officers involved, Timothy
Loehmann and Frank Garmback, have not been charged. The video is available at the link below.
Tamir Rice (12 yrs old) is shot within seconds of police arriving on scene. He was holding a toy gun.
Dec. 2, 2014: Rumain Brisbon (Phoenix)
Rumain
Brisbon, 34, was shot and killed by a Phoenix police officer who mistook a pill
bottle for a weapon. The officer, Mark Rine, was not charged following a probe
by the Maricopa County attorney's office, according to the New York Daily
News. Jerame Reid, 36,
was shot and killed by police officers in Bridgeton, New Jersey. He was a
passenger in a car driven by his friend, who was pulled over by police.
Until this time,
the phrases Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter were being used
interchangeably. However, a number of
events that occurred between Dec 2014 and Jan 2015 polarized the movement to be
only Black Lives Matter.
Dec 10, 2014 First documented incident of
"black lives matter" being changed to "all lives matter" to
co-opt the message from Americans who are black
Two students put up
the poster Friday, but Chandler Clothier, the student who designed the poster,
said she was called to the principal's office on Monday. Principal Linda
MacKenzie told her that she failed to get prior approval for the poster and
needed to change the title, "#blacklivesmatter" to "all lives matter,"
or take the poster down.
Dec
17, 2014 College administrator shouted down for saying "all" lives
not "black" lives.
The apologies
continued at Smith College, after President Kathleen McCartney publicly joined
demonstrators and declared "all lives matter." But she was
immediately denounced for not saying "black lives matter." McCartney asked
forgiveness and promised not to stray from the expected language.
And then in December of 2014,
two NYC police officers were killed in a targeted homicide by a troubled
individual with a criminal history. It
was a heinous assassination of police officers. This became a spark that ignited a movement to counter the black lives matter movement.
December
20, 2014 Police Officers Killed in
Targeted Homicide
Police
Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu in Brooklyn, New York are killed in a
targeted attack against police by Ismaaiyl Brinsley. Brinsley, a
high-school dropout who had shot an ex-girlfriend in the stomach earlier
Saturday, killed the officers and then ran from the scene to a nearby subway station,
where he took his own troubled life. Those
who were quick to blame Brinsley's actions solely on recent protests in New
York and other cities must acknowledge his criminal past and reported mental
instability. This was not an average 28-year-old New Yorker who was leading a
productive life before last weekend.
December 2014 Blue Lives Matter is Created
Originating
in New York City, Blue Lives Matter NYC[12]
2014 About this time, the Thin Blue Line Flag is created by a private
company called "Thin Blue Line USA".
Traditionally,
the Blue Line Flag is represented by a blue line running horizontally across a
black background. In 2014, Thin Blue Line USA, located in Michigan, redesigned
the flag, creating a variation of the subdued 13-stripe American Flag, raising
funds for the families of fallen officers.
Blue Lives Matter
After the single
incident by a lone individual, a few police/former police start a "blue
lives matter" movement. Although
the act of violence against these police is heinous, it was not a coordinated attack by the black lives matter movement. Nevertheless, the founders of the
movement to support cops choose "blue lives matter" as the title.
It is a direct co-opt from the "black lives matter"
movement. It is a way of creating an
opposing side; you either side with black lives matter or blue lives matter. Even a policing
textbook explains the movement as "A pro-police movement ... established
in response to Black Lives matter..." Consider
the myriad ways that the movement could have been titled such as "Support
Police", or "Respect Law Enforcement". But the title chosen was a direct contrast to
Black Lives Matter. Additionally, the
message was not an official public service message from the Justice Department
or the National Institute of Health or the National Association of Police
Chiefs. And the same is true for the
flag - it was not created by any governing body. It was a private company in Michigan. This was a small group of private individuals
creating this for their own political and economic ends.
Blue
Wall of Silence
Also worth examination in the symbolic meaning of blue lives
matter, is the
long history of the "blue wall of silence." The blue wall of silence, is one term given
to the culture of police defending each other - even in the wake of corrupt or
unlawful policing methods. This extreme
value of supporting police no matter what has been manifested in trials of
internal investigations and in police misconduct cases (see this
link to the Marshall Project https://www.themarshallproject.org/records/605-blue-wall-of-silence). One of the highest profile cases was in
Chicago with the Laquan McDonald shooting cover-up, detailed in this Chicago
Tribune Timeline (https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/laquan-mcdonald/ct-graphics-laquan-mcdonald-officers-fired-timeline-htmlstory.html).
This unconditional sanctioning of police
tactics is widely researched and reported on.
So, when some Americans hear things like "back the blue," or
"blue lives matter," they equate that with the blue wall of silence
and the backing of police misconduct and use of illegal force. It's seen as sanctioning lying about police
misconduct and the allowing for police violation of civil rights of suspects.
Dec. 30, 2014: Jerame Reid
(Bridgeton, New Jersey)
In dashcam video footage of the stop,
an officer is heard claiming that there is a gun in the glove compartment.
Police shouted at Reid not to exit the car, but he did, with his hands
apparently in front of his chest. That's when officers Braheme Days and Roger
Worley opened fire, striking Reid.
Jan 2015 American Dialectic Society declares “#blacklivesmatter” as the “word of the year” for 2014.
Jan. 10,
2015 "Pro-Blue Rally" Saturday on
Independence Mall,
Speakers
urged the public to appreciate the dangerous work that police do every day. Protestors at recent rallies against
perceived police brutality in New York and Ferguson, Mo., "don't speak for
America," U.S. Sen Pat Toomey (R. Pa.) told the crowd. Noting that 115 police officers died in the
line of duty in the United States in 2014 -- and that 10 have already been shot
this year -- Toomey called it a "great day to be standing up for our law
enforcement officers" who "protect us day in and day out." With a theme that "All Lives Matter," the rally was in
response to numerous recent demonstrations around the country protesting the
deaths of unarmed black men by white police officers. With a theme that "All Lives Matter," the rally was in
response to numerous recent demonstrations around the country protesting the
deaths of unarmed black men by white police officers.
The Politicization of Blue Lives Matter
Just weeks after the creation of the Blue Lives Matter group and the thin blue line flag, Senator Toomey from PA solidified the All Lives movement as a direct opposition to the Black Lives movement. If there was any doubt of the Blue Lives movement being a reaction to the Black Lives, that was erased at this rally. Toomey rallied the crowd against anyone who challenged police. His message was that even if people are simply opposing the killing of unarmed Americans who are black, those people are anti-police and anti-American. That position is reinforced by the co-opting of the American flag which was now being incorporated into the thin blue line flag. The merging of these creates the message that opposing police is unAmerican. In the meantime, the killings continued:
April 2, 2015: Eric Harris (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
Eric
Harris, 44, was shot and killed by a 73-year-old reserve deputy officer who
allegedly mistook his own gun for a Taser. The entire incident was captured on a dashcam
video. The
officer, Robert Bates, was charged with manslaughter.
Eric Harris a second before being shot from behind by police.
April 4, 2015: Walter Scott (North Charleston,
South Carolina)
Walter
Scott, 50, was shot by a police officer while running away from a traffic stop
for a broken taillight. Officer Michael
Slager claimed Scott had taken his stun gun.
Slager was subsequently fired and charged
with murder after a video surfaced showing
Scott running away, his back to the officer, as Slager fired his gun. Video is available at the link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2015/apr/09/north-charleston-shooting-police-scanner-video
Mr. Scott in green is running from a police
officer when he is shot in the back.
April 19, 2015: Freddie Gray (Baltimore)
Freddie Gray, 25, died of a spinal cord injury a week after
he was arrested by Baltimore police. It's
still unclear how Gray sustained the injury. Officials say he was stopped after
fleeing "unprovoked upon noticing police presence" and arrested for
allegedly possessing a switchblade. He
was put in a police van, which is where police say he suffered a medical
emergency. The officers involved in his arrest were placed on leave, and on
Friday, the state's attorney announced that they had been criminally charged in
connection with Gray's homicide. For more about the protests that followed Freddie Gray's death see my post about it here, which also contradicts the racist trope that Americans who are black never protest black on black crime, only white on black crime, which simply is not true.
July 2015, Sandra Bland (Texas)
Sandra Bland, a black woman from Chicago is driving to Texas for a new job. She is pulled over for a specious traffic violation, failing to signal a lane change. The officer that pulls her over asks her if she is annoyed and she responds affirmatively to him. This leads to an argument that results in the officer drawing his gun and pointing it at her, forcibly removing her from her car, calling for back up and arresting her. She is found dead in her jail cell less than 72 hours later. Guardian story and dash cam video here. The Nation details the incident and her history here.
July 2015, Sandra Bland (Texas)
Sandra Bland, a black woman from Chicago is driving to Texas for a new job. She is pulled over for a specious traffic violation, failing to signal a lane change. The officer that pulls her over asks her if she is annoyed and she responds affirmatively to him. This leads to an argument that results in the officer drawing his gun and pointing it at her, forcibly removing her from her car, calling for back up and arresting her. She is found dead in her jail cell less than 72 hours later. Guardian story and dash cam video here. The Nation details the incident and her history here.
August 2015
It was clear that there was a disparity between all lives matter and black lives matter. In American discourse, they had come to represent opposing forces. And that opposition was solidified even further by then-candidate Trump using it in his rallies by February of 2016.
It was clear that there was a disparity between all lives matter and black lives matter. In American discourse, they had come to represent opposing forces. And that opposition was solidified even further by then-candidate Trump using it in his rallies by February of 2016.
August 2015 All lives
matter has attracted national attention
When
asked which statement is closest to their own views, 78% of Likely U.S. Voters
say all lives matter. A new Rasmussen
Reports national telephone survey finds that just 11% say black lives matter.
Nine percent (9%) say neither statement reflects their point of view.
Aug.
29, 2015 Police Officer Ambushed in
Texas
Ambush-style
murder of Sheriff Deputy Darren Goforth at a gas station in suburban Houston
Sept 17, 2015 NPR Report Is There A 'War On Police'? The Statistics
Say No
Seth
Stoughton, a former police officer and an assistant law professor at the
University of South Carolina, calls that interpretation "nonsense." "It's
misleading to compare one year to another year," he says. "2013 was
the safest year for police officers, ever," he says. "The safest year
in recorded history." In fact, in the larger scheme of things, 2014
looks pretty normal. The number of murders of police was about the same as
2012, and actually a lot lower than 2011.
The long-term trend is even more encouraging: On average, only about
half as many police are murdered every year now, as compared with the 1970s.
Stoughton says some of that improvement is probably due to better training,
better gear and radically improved trauma care for cops who are shot.
Oct 2015 Black Lives Matter PAC is formed in St Louis, but unaffiliated with the original movement.
Up to this point, Alicia Garza, who started the hashtag more than two years earlier, encouraged the use of the slogan BLM as a decentralized social movement, especially on social media, that promoted the idea that black lives matter. It was not until Oct 2015 that a distinct political organization developed.As detailed in Colorlines, Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza told ThinkProgress that the PAC is not officially connected to the movement. “[What] our folks have said to us is we don’t want to endorse candidates, but to push [the] system of democracy to another level. … That’s where we’re headed,” she said. “I have a lot of respect for people who want to do different things. But I have questions: Who are they connected to, what are they gonna do with that?” Garza also said that she sees the value in their proposed work: “Everybody has something to contribute. The idea is not that we should all be doing the same thing. In [the] history of social movements, they were many different planks and impact from all of them.”
The above divergence is IMPORTANT to note. Many people oppose particular political positions espoused by particular groups that have emerged under the verbage of black lives matter. But dismissing the the phrase black lives matter and every sign/symbol/group that uses it because of opposition to specific political positions taken by particular political groups is reductionist. It lacks an understanding or acknowledgment of the origins of the phrase black lives matter and a blanket dismissal of blm is at best ignoring racism but perhaps allowing it to continue. It is naive to ignore the ongoing racism that is so well documented. And, I would argue that reducing blm to a particular group that you disagree with politically is akin to reducing the definition of conservative to white supremacy because of groups like the Council of Conservative Citizens or to indict Christianity because of this Christian mass murderer.
Nov 23, 2015 Black Lives Matter Protester
beaten up at Trump rally and thrown out while crowd chants "All Lives
Matter"
The
important part starts around the one-minute mark of the original video, when the protester is
pulled up off the floor and led away by members of the event security staff and
some of the more aggressive volunteers from the crowd. The man is wearing a
T-shirt bearing the slogan “Black Lives Matter”. At least one Trump supporter
standing near the video camera starts chanting a refutation: “All lives
matter.” It’s valuable to see images of
a black man being shoved and pushed and jeered and taunted to the soundtrack of
these words. In 2015, in America, those three words, “all lives matter”, are a
racist slogan. Any other interpretation is wrong. Watch the video at the link below.
Black lives
matter protester is beaten at Trump rally while crowd chants "All lives
matter."
February 28, 2016 Candidate Trump throws out Black Lives Matter
Protesters and incites crowd with All Lives Matter Chant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpijYTMpz3k
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/02/28/blacklivesmatter_protests_trump_in_alabama_trump_responds_all_lives_matter.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpijYTMpz3k
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/02/28/blacklivesmatter_protests_trump_in_alabama_trump_responds_all_lives_matter.html
Trump throws out Black lives Matter Protesters and he incites
the crowd by yelling "All lives matter." Here are some metaphors to help explain why the Black Lives Matter movement is important and it shouldn't be trumped by "all lives matter". And if there is any doubt that Trump has been associated with the flag, see this package deal for sale:
July 5, 2016, Alton Sterling shot dead at close
range by two white Baton Rouge Police Department officers in Baton
Rouge, Louisiana.
The
officers were attempting to control Sterling's arms, and Sterling was shot by
them after reportedly reaching for the loaded 38 caliber handgun in his pocket.[4] Police were responding to a
report that a man in a red shirt was selling CDs and that he had used a gun to
threaten a man outside a convenience store.[5] The owner of the store where
the shooting occurred said that Sterling had started carrying a gun a few days
prior to the event as other CD vendors had been robbed recently. He also said
that Sterling was "not the one causing trouble" during the situation
that led to the police being called.[6][7][8] The shooting was recorded by
multiple bystanders.
July 6, 2016 Philando Castile,[a] killed during traffic stop with three year old in back seat.
A 32-year-old African-American, was pulled over while driving in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, and killed by Jeronimo Yanez, a St. Anthony, Minnesota Latino police officer. Castile had been driving a car at 9:00 pm with his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her four-year-old daughter when he was pulled over by Yanez and another officer in a suburb of Saint Paul, MN.[3][4] After being asked for his license and registration, Castile had told Officer Yanez that he had a firearm, to which Yanez replied, "Don't reach for it then", and Castile said "I'm, I, I was reaching for..." Yanez said "Don't pull it out", Castile replied "I'm not pulling it out", and Reynolds said "He's not..." Yanez repeated "Don't pull it out"[5] and then shot Castile seven times.[6]
July
8, 2016 Five Dallas Officers Killed by Micah Johnson
Johnson
had direct ties to any protest or political group, either peaceful or violent,
but his Facebook page showed that he supported the New Black Panther Party, a
group that has advocated
violence against whites,
and Jews in particular. The attack
appeared to be the deadliest for law enforcement officers in the United States since Sept.
11, 2001.
July 2016 On Google, both Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter peak in searches.
July 18, 2016, Charles Kinsey,
a mental health therapist, was shot by
police in North
Miami, Florida.
Kinsey,
had been retrieving his autistic 23-year-old patient,
Arnaldo Rios Soto, who had wandered from his group
home.
Police encountered the pair while searching for an armed suicidal man. Kinsey
was lying on the ground with his hands in the air and trying to negotiate
between officers and his patient when he was shot. While Kinsey lay on the ground with his hands
raised, one officer, identified by the city as North Miami Police
Department Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team member
Jonathan Aledda, fired three rounds from a rifle, with one bullet striking
Kinsey in the leg.[1][6] The shooting occurred a
block from the group home where Kinsey worked at 1365 NE 128th St.[7]
November 2, 2016, Des Moines Police Department officer Anthony Beminio and Urbandale Police Department officer Justin Martin were killed in separate "ambush-style" shootings in and near Des Moines, Iowa. The perpetrator in both shootings, identified as 46-year-old Scott Michael Greene of Urbandale, Iowa, was apprehended by police hours later. Greene was taken into custody unharmed! President Obama publicly praised the police officers and decried the violence against them as heinous.
November 2016
Joshua Beal is shot 8 times by an officer with a history of racial
incidents
Beal
was shot eight times during a fight
with plainclothes officers that erupted after a vehicle in a
motorcade leaving a funeral he was part of was stopped by an off-duty
firefighter for blocking a fire lane in Mount Greenwood, a majority-white
Southwest Side neighborhood home to many members of law enforcement. Beal and
the group he was with were black and the shooting sparked days of contentious
protests. One of the
officers, Sgt. Thomas Derouin, has a history of being involved in racially charged cases of
excessive force, as detailed in The Chicago Reporter’s Settling for Misconduct database of
all Chicago police lawsuit settlements from 2011 to 2017. He was named in the
$55,000 settlement for a 2012 case in which officers tased, threw to the ground, and pressed
a gun to the head of a man who they also used racial epithets against. The man
was later cleared of charges. Racial
epithets were also used in a 2008 incident, which was later settled for $10,000, in which Derouin and another officer are alleged to
have violently stopped a man in South Shore whose ribs were broken in the
encounter. The charge against the man was later dismissed. Derouin also has
more than 25 complaints filed against him, which is more than 94% of other officers, according to
the Citizens Police Data Project, including allegations of use of force,
illegal search, and false arrest.
August 5, 2017 Portland. Thin Blue
Line flag displayed at rally of Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer group
The Southern Poverty Law Center explains who the Proud Boys are here:
Proud Boys and leaders regularly spout white nationalist memes and maintain affiliations with known extremists. They are known for anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric. Proud Boys have appeared alongside other hate groups at extremist gatherings like the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville. Indeed, former Proud Boys member Jason Kessler helped to organize the event, which brought together Klansmen, antisemites, Southern racists, and militias.
August 12, 2017 Charlottesville. Thin blue line flag was used by white nationalist groups
During
the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in
2017, the thin blue line flag was used by white nationalist groups to symbolize
support for police and opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement.[19][20]
Figure 6 The Vanguard America Flag, a Neo-Nazi Symbol
being flown with the Thin Blue Line Flag
2017 Multnomah County Courthouse removed the flag after it gained notoriety with the Charlottesville white supremacists.[21]
November 11, 2018, Jemel Roberson was shot by a Midlothian police officer
Roberson
was a 26-year-old African
American security
guard for Manny's Blue Room Bar in Robbins,
Illinois when
he was fatally shot by Ian Covey, a police officer responding to a call of
shots fired at the bar.[1] Roberson was working
for the bar as a security guard when four people were non-fatally shot by a
gunman. After Roberson subdued and pinned the shooter to the ground, he was
shot by a Midlothian police officer arriving
at the scene. Witnesses stated that
Roberson was wearing a vest that had the word "SECURITY" printed on
it, while an Illinois State Police (ISP) preliminary investigation stated he
was wearing plain black clothing with no markings identifying him as security.
Between 2017 and 2019, the flag becomes a co-opted symbol of white power/ white nationalism and it also becomes recognized as an unofficial flag that is not/should not be part of government-sanctioned symbols.
In July 2019, the "Thin Blue Line" American Flag was put up by residents of York, Maine, as a way to pay tribute to a local police officer who was shot and killed in the line of duty decades ago. Due to locals being concerned that the flag was being used as a symbol of white supremacy, the flag was subsequently taken down.[22]
In October 2019, the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland was gifted a wooden “Thin Blue Line” flag made by a citizen in recognition of National First Responders Day. The wooden flag was put up in the 5th district police station. After backlash from the public, the flag was taken down in November 2019.[23]
On May 29, 2020 Dave Patrick Underwood, an officer in the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service was shot and killed by two men, one of whom was in the military and linked to right-wing extremism. Federal officials said Carrillo, an Air Force sergeant, was associated with the "Boogaloo" movement- described by prosecutors as a far-right extremist group that calls for a second civil war. From Fox News 6 in Oakland,
Federal authorities said he went to Oakland with the express purpose of killing police and using the protests as cover.
"To be clear, Carrillo elected to travel to Oakland to conduct this murder and take advantage of a time when this nation was mourning the killing of George Floyd. There is no evidence that these men had any intention to join the demonstration in Oakland," FBI Special Agent John Bennett said in a statement. "They came to Oakland to kill cops."
On Aug 23, 2020 Jacob Blake is shot in the back seven times and paralyzed from the waist down while his children watched from the back seat of their car.
On Aug 25, 2020 A large group of white males armed with assault rifles and military gear show up in Kenosha claiming to be protecting businesses. One of the vigilantes claims to not like police and in agreement with the protesters that police are the problem, however, some of the vigilantes are given water by police and even thanked by them despite that these vigilantes are in violation of curfew and heavily armed. USA Today details much of the incident here, and the Kenosha Journal details it here. One of the armed protesters who the police gave water to is Jacob Rittenhouse who murdered 2 people later that night. The incident was captured on video and posted to Twitter here.
After murdering them, Rittenhouse puts his hands in the air and his rifle is hanging off of his shoulder, but police drive right by him and tell him to go home.
On Aug 26, 2020, at the RNC, Mike Pence says in his speech that Officer Underwood was killed during the protests in Oakland, which is a highly misleading statement that makes people think Officer Underwood was killed by BLM protesters.
And Buzzfeed reports what Black police officers experienced at the Coupd'etat.
This Week's post purports that the insurrection is evidence that Blue Lives Matter was always abpout trolling the BLM campaign.
Alternative Choices
Despite the complex and layered history of the
thin blue line American flag and the corresponding blue lives matter movement,
I do think that first responders deserve recognition and support of the
public. Sociology teaches us that people
interact based on shared meaning in everyday life and this meaning is evident
in both material cultural and nonmaterial culture. The flag and the movement both represent
these sociological conclusions. Here are some examples of other flags that support first responders and they do not carry the baggage of the thin blue line flag.
Other Resources
Using
the U.S. flag to support police makes any criticism of police unAmerican
Against
the backdrop of the American flag, any condemnation of the police is not only
one against their actions or the general institution, but of a sacred American
bastion. Criticisms of the police, however pushed by the Black Lives Matter
movement and its supporters, then becomes viewed as ostensibly un-American. The Blue Lives Matter movement principally
manufactured the haphazard “us versus them” narrative, which has triggered an
imbalanced protection of an occupation over the fundamental rights of
minorities. The “Blue Lives” in our country operate with such supremacy that it
enables dangerous ideologies and soundly guarantees to reproduce further
fatalities and turmoil.
After Ferguson, black men still face the highest risk of being
killed by police https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/after-ferguson-black-men-and-boys-still-face-the-highest-risk-of-being-killed-by-police
A Flag for Trump’s
America; The power of strength
By Jeff Sharlet
Divergent discourse
between protests and counter-protests: #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter.
Since the shooting of Black teenager Michael
Brown by White police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, the protest
hashtag #BlackLivesMatter has amplified critiques of extrajudicial killings of
Black Americans. In response to #BlackLivesMatter, other Twitter users have
adopted #AllLivesMatter, a counter-protest hashtag whose content argues that
equal attention should be given to all lives regardless of race. Through a
multi-level analysis of over 860,000 tweets, we study how these protests and
counter-protests diverge by quantifying aspects of their discourse. We find
that #AllLivesMatter facilitates opposition between #BlackLivesMatter and
hashtags such as #PoliceLivesMatter and #BlueLivesMatter in such a way that
historically echoes the tension between Black protesters and law enforcement.
In addition, we show that a significant portion of #AllLivesMatter use stems
from hijacking by #BlackLivesMatter advocates. Beyond simply injecting
#AllLivesMatter with #BlackLivesMatter content, these hijackers use the hashtag
to directly confront the counter-protest notion of "All lives
matter." Our findings suggest that Black Lives Matter movement was able to
grow, exhibit diverse conversations, and avoid derailment on social media by
making discussion of counter-protest opinions a central topic of
#AllLivesMatter, rather than the movement itself.
Black Lives Matter or All Lives Matter?
Color-blindness and Epistemic Injustice*
Those who take ‘All
lives matter’ to oppose ‘Black lives matter’ take the latter to mean something
like ‘Only black lives matter.’ Those who regard this exclusionary
construal as mistaken hold the error to be due to an ideology of
color-blindness. It has further been argued that the ideologically-motivated
suppression of racial discourse has resulted in an epistemic injustice,
blinding objectors to the fact that ‘Black lives matter’ really means ‘Black
lives matter, too’. I will argue that attempts to make sense of
this interpretive response in terms of color-blindness are mistaken. As I will
discuss, the interpretive debates surrounding the words ‘Black lives matter’
are reminiscent of those surrounding ‘Black Power,’ which unfolded long
before color-blindness could be said to have been a prevailing ethos. Critical
affirmations such as ‘Black Power’ and ‘Black lives matter’ have proved
difficult for many interpreters to understand because of the way that they
manifest resistance to white supremacy, eschewing both racial exclusion and racial
inclusion (the latter fact being masked by inclusive reconstructions such as
‘Black lives matter, too’). As I argue, however, the critical function of these
statements calls into question the applicability of standard accounts of
epistemic injustice.
Current CNN ongoing list of controversial police encounters
My blogpost about Black Lives Matter
Bob
Bob is sitting at the dinner
table. Everyone else there gets a plate of food except
Bob. Bob says, “Bob deserves food.” Everyone at the table responds
with, “Everyone deserves food!” and they continue eating. Although
everyone deserves food is a true statement, it does nothing to actually rectify
the fact that Bob has NO food!
The Doctor
A man goes to the doctor for a broken arm, and
the doctor starts examining the rest of the man’s body. The injured
man says, “Doc, it’s my arm that’s broken; everything else is fine,” and the
doctor responds, “All bones matter.” Of course they all do, but they
aren’t the ones broken now!
Jesus
When Jesus said “Blessed are the poor, “no one
stood up and yelled “Blessed is everyone!”
Randall Barnes puts February 2016 into perspective with a detailed analysis of Blackish.
The Police Officer's Dilemma from University of
Colorado at Boulder
And another example of implicit bias is from the University of Chicago's Joshua Corell who showed how people react in a split second when they confront someone with a weapon. Soc Images explains it here. See here for a link to the game and conclusions.
And another example of implicit bias is from the University of Chicago's Joshua Corell who showed how people react in a split second when they confront someone with a weapon. Soc Images explains it here. See here for a link to the game and conclusions.
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