Welp, its 2016! Might as well not waste any time. Let’s get right down to it: white supremacy didn’t go anywhere since last year. Not that I actually thought it would … I’m just saying. So now that armed, white “militia” members took over a building on federal land as we were preparing to come back to work, and social/media erupted in criticism as to why they haven't been called terrorists, or violently put down, or both, here’s the other thing that just happened—a possible explanation of why they haven’t been put down. I mean, other than the fact that they’re white.
If you listen to this law enforcement expert on CNN, (you can see the video below the fold) they are not considered a threat in the same way as Black Lives Matter or Muslim protesters because “they’re not destroying property, they’re not looting anything.” Yep, that’s what Art Roderick said about the armed militia members in Burns, Oregon, that has seized control of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Well that makes sense. Sorta. Now here’s the problem with Roderick’s statement. Excuse me, one of the many problems. The leader of the group is Ammon Bundy, son of Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who had a standoff with the Bureau of Land Management back in 2014. You remember what happened after that, right?
The other thing is, these folks are armed. With guns. But they say they are peaceful—after committing an illegal act, breaking and entering and trespassing—and they’ve got guns. And okay, so maybe the locks on the doors or the windows are the only property destroyed thus far; that’s not a lot but its still destruction. More importantly though, there is still the potential for violence and property destruction, right?
I mean, that’s what usually causes riots/rebellions in Black communities: the police show up because of the threat of riots/rebellions during a protest against an injustice, act heavy-handed toward Black residents/protestors, then somebody throws a bottle or a brick. In Ferguson, Missouri, the very first protests over the murder of Mike Brown by Darren Wilson in August of 2014—peaceful but angry, unarmed protests—were met with police dogs and assault rifles. This December 2014 march protesting the murder of Eric Garner in New York drew thousands—thousands—of people. There was no destruction of property or looting. The Quik Trip in Ferguson and the CVS in Baltimore were looted way, way later in the timeline, but looted indeed … I’ll give you that one … but come on: that’s more important than guys walking around with automatic rifles who genuinely don’t like U.S. government authority?
Evidently so, according to Fox News commentator Deneen Borelli:
“What happened in [Ferguson, Missouri] is really outrageous because you had individuals who were very destructive, they destroyed property, they destroyed their community,” Borelli opined. “We’re looking at Oregon. Right now, these individuals are being peaceful, they are outraged about the overgrowth of government. It’s government gone wild.”
To consider protests against the murder of unarmed Black folks, whether called by unarmed Black Lives Matter organizers or not, a threat because of destruction of property or looting is both a lie and it’s unfair. But such is the nature of white supremacy. The threat that is perceived is that of angry Black people setting their sights on something other than the row of cops in front of them.
That too is the nature of white supremacy.