SPITTING ON THE SIDEWALK

Another black man has been shot dead by white cops, this time a guy with a gun who ran away and wouldn't stop when called upon to do so.

Some black people protest. They know this is murder, because they know that man with the gun was no threat to anybody. (They know this because they just know, okay?)

This is a familiar story that has little chance of ever ending. The Black Lives Matter folks have taken a stand: They're against it.

And I presume they'd like it to stop happening. They get folks into the streets demanding that it stop happening. But they stop there.

As far as I know, the BLM people have refused to offer any useful advice to black men.

I find this odd.

Here's a metaphor to demonstrate what I mean:

Suppose there was something wrong with the electrical grid in this country—every time a black man spat on the sidewalk there was a chance he might get electrocuted. Something about the unique chemical makeup of his saliva, let's say.

BLM would likely protest, pointing out the electrical grid was put in place by white men, starting with Thomas Edison. They might suspect this particular and bizarre defect—killing black men when they spat on the sidewalk—was somehow engineered into the system on purpose.

They would undoubtedly call for a redesign of the system, to make it safe.

But if the pattern for this lethal problem is the same as in the matter of white cops shooting black men in the streets, the BLM folks might not offer the most effective advice to mitigate the problem while waiting for action on a new electric grid.

Specifically: They might not suggest that in the meantime black men should refrain from spitting on the sidewalk—on account of it's so freaking dangerous!

But why wouldn't they say anything? Because it seems to put the burden of a solution on the black man? Because it sounds a lot like "blaming the victim"?

They might instead attack the electrical engineers for devising this problem. Or dispute the notion there is something in the spit of black men that triggers the effect. (Maybe the grid can "see" when a black man is about to spit. That's not impossible, right?)

In the case of white cops shooting black guys, one overlooked common denominator is the fact the black men were committing crimes when the incident began. In no case did the accused cooperate in his arrest. They all fought back, or resisted, or ran away.

Note: I'm not saying their actions justified getting shot to death.

But their decision to resist absolutely got things started, forcing the cops into what I call Part Two arrest mode. Bad things happen in Part Two. Mistakes can be made, things can get out of hand, and so forth.

It's a matter of physicality, and in the physical world one thing leads to another. The cops simply don't have the tools to handle these situations safely.

So why don't the BLM folks advise black guys to stop committing crimes? Or, having already committed the crime, why don't they suggest black men cooperate in the arrest, rather than resist, fight, or run from the cops?

Why risk getting killed?

And it doesn't matter if the black guy thinks he's being unfairly singled out, or is convinced his actions don't constitute a crime. By making the decision to arrest the fellow, the cop is putting his career on the line.

Let him do that.

If the arrest turns out to be petty or bogus or racially motivated, let the system be the judge. These days the system is very sensitive to such matters.

Cops can lose their jobs over this stuff. Let 'em!

Why doesn't BLM say these things? It's almost as if they want there to be fresh faces on the Big Board of Martyrs.

But that position can only be useful if they're planning a complete overhaul of the justice system, perhaps one that ties the hands of cops when it comes to crimes committed by black folks.

That doesn't have much chance of succeeding.

And you can't just get rid of all racist cops. In almost all these cases, racism can only be inferred, not demonstrated. As long as black guys commit crimes and refuse to be arrested, the inevitable will ensue.

Until cops carry phasers, set permanently on stun. Will that day ever come?