How Did We Get Here?

Racial tensions are arguably the highest they’ve been since the 60’s.With an African-American president you would think that wouldn’t be the case. What is causing this sudden escalation of racism and police violence? The fact is that these shootings aren’t new, and have happened for many years. These problems are not even exclusive to the African-American populations, but that’s a matter for another time.

Racial tensions have escalated, by a large part, because of the media’s sudden focus on them. The far left has made an effort to convince people, the only people who oppose Obama are racists. To perpetuate this lie left leaning media began to shine a growing amount of light on what they perceived proof of racism in America. The best example: police shootings.

Obama has since used this narrative to promote his own agenda to undermine Republicans. It doesn’t matter how informative and coherent his opposition is if he could convince the public, conservatives are racist.

How so?

There are many examples of this. You just have to remain objective. Whenever a black man, woman, or child gets shot by a cop, Obama makes a statement. Sometimes even before all information is released. Such as the case with Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri where Obama said, “…racial divide within the American Justice System stains the hearts of black children.” All before it came out that the “Hands up, don’t shoot” narrative was not true.

President Obama’s attendance of Michael Browns funeral (a guilty man who violently attacked a cop) without calling for a halt to the growing violence directed at police officers, says a lot about his message and overall ambitions.

Are Cops always right?

This is not to say that cops are never in the wrong. The most recent incidents involving Philando Castile and Alton Sterling are looking like prime examples of police brutality and possible racism.

As libertarians we certainly believe there is an unfair emphasis on black communities because of the War on Drugs. What we weren’t expecting was a sudden shift that the Black Lives Matter Movement (BLM) would take. BLM has become so anti-authoritarian, in many respects, that Obama’s most recent blame on lack of gun control in the wake of the Dallas shooting (where over ten cops were shot and six of them killed) fell on deaf ears.

Alongside Obama’s enforcement of racial divide, he has also made huge efforts to limit guns and to militarize the police. The last two can very well be stopped or severely hindered by the first. The BLM movement is beginning to show a shift towards government distrust, or at least judicial distrust. Once they associate that they are essentially the same thing, any support Obama may of had limiting guns while keeping police armed and militarized, will quickly disappear. We are already seeing examples of this happening.

During a Kelly File segment, a BLM activist calls to abolish all police forces. That’s quite the opposite approach to Obama’s goals to militarize, or eradicate local police in favor of a federal force. She may have received some boo’s but because she felt comfortable enough to say it over national television, the idea has to have some support. As racial tensions and judicial dis-trust grow, that support can gain traction.

What Can We Do?

This is good news for libertarians. Certainly many of us don’t want to see an end to the judicial system or law enforcement, but we have advocated privatizing the police for some time. Even libertarians that haven’t got on board with a private police force can still get behind a move to end police militarization. Making steps to further localize law enforcement. The liberty movement needs to reach out to BLM activists during this time. Steer them away from protests that block traffic or promote violence. Instead steer them toward efforts that will be more effective to bring about more freedom and liberty for all of us.