A police officer in Birmingham, Alabama, was savagely attacked by a suspect the other day. Pistol-whipped—blood covered his face and body. He was sprawled on the pavement.
But instead of lending a helping hand, a crowd of bystanders posted photos on Facebook and Twitter. “Pistol pimped,” “Whipped his (expletive) to sleep”—that’s what they wrote.
There was no wall-to-wall cable news coverage. There were no headlines reading, “White Cop Beaten by Black Suspect.” There were no massive marches with protesters chanting, “Police lives matter.”
In recent days, police officers have been murdered in Shreveport, Louisiana, and Memphis, Tennessee. If you recall, the White House memorialized Michael Brown and Eric Garner. But they have ignored the murders of police officers Sean Bolton and Thomas LaValley.
For whatever reason, when white cops have been assassinated by black assailants, the White House has been conspicuously quiet. Could it be that they, too, have embraced the mantra that only black lives matter?
Maybe they should consider these brave words delivered by Toney Armstrong, the director of the Memphis Police Department, at the funeral of Officer Bolton:
“I know there’s a mantra that says, “Black lives matter.” Let me tell you I understand that. I’m an African-American man, and I truly, truly understand that. But we can’t say that black lives matter only when they are taken at the hands of law enforcement, or only when its at the hands of some non-African-American people. Black lives matter, period. All lives matter.”
All lives matter, indeed.
See an error in this article?
To contact us or to submit an article
