OPINION

OPINION | LETTER: A double standard

A double standard

Editor, The Commercial,

When U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan was questioned about Trump's complicity and role in inciting a violent mob uprising and insurrection against the government of the United States on Jan. 6, 2021, that left the Capitol desecrated, 140 officers injured, and five people dead (so much for law and order and blue lives matter), the first thing that dropped from his mouth was a "what aboutism" about Black Lives Matter protests.

How can one equate BLM protests that erupted across America in response to police brutality and the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery to an attempted coup against the United States government?

There is a double standard at play here.

The language used to refer to BLM protesters has included looters, thugs, criminals, and even claims that they are un-American. The language used to refer to white mob violence is patriotism.

Violence is no stranger in this country.

Violence at the lunch counter; violence at the voting booth; violence that bombed a church with four little girls inside; violence that left Emmett Till bloated and in an open casket; the violent death of Martin Luther King Jr.

The common thread in the violence mentioned above, even the Capitol uprising and attempted coup, is an attempt to keep African Americans, other communities of color and women in this country subjugated and disenfranchised.

In a book written by Frederick L. Hoffman titled "Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro," Hoffman concludes from his research that "the American negro is better off enslaved."

However, I agree with the Rev. Basil Manly, a slave owner who had a leading role in founding the Southern Baptist Convention and who, after the Civil War, had lost everything in a failed attempt to keep Black Americans enslaved. Manly preached a sermon titled "Our Brother in Black," and he conceded, "the only way to deal with the Black man whom we find in America – is to give him his rights."

Chestine Sims,

White Hall

Upcoming Events