Letter From America (About Black Violence)

WSJ’s Jason Riley On Obama, Black Leadership And The Media Over Ferguson

The Daily Caller
Brendan Bordelon
18th August, 2014 

[No doubt there are plenty of issues to be addressed one way or another in the United States over the relationships between blacks and the police.  For our part, we remain sceptical of the "crowd" which would use the tragedies in Ferguson as a pretext for looting and abusing their neighbours, claiming their acts are moral because of the oppression they face.  As for the attention hungry faux-celebrities that cruise into town in the attempt to exploit the issues as part of their PR spin they are bottom barrel scrapers.  There is no doubt that the issues have to do with morality and ethics--a reality which crosses all ethnic distinctions.  In the piece below, Jason Riley brings his moral compass to bear upon the Ferguson rioting. We are intrigued because it is a perspective not often voiced. Ed.]

Normally soft-spoken Wall Street Journal editor Jason Riley became heated during a rant on the Ferguson crisis, calling President Obama’s most recent statement “a dodge” and slamming the “false narrative” that black men are targeted by white cops.  Riley appeared on Fox News’ “Special Report” on Monday to discuss the White House statement about the riots ravaging Ferguson, Missouri since the death of black teenager Michael Brown at the hands of a white police officer.


Riley was happy that Obama brought up black crime, “but then he attributed that black criminality — he suggested it stems from poverty or a racist criminal justice system, which is nonsense.”

“The black crime rate in 1960 was lower than it is today,” he said. “Was there less racism or less poverty than in 1960? This is about black behavior. It needs to be addressed head-on. It’s about attitudes toward the criminal justice system in these neighborhoods, where young black men have no sense of what it means to be a male or what it means to be black. And he needs to talk about that head-on,” Riley repeated, “not dismiss it as a product of poverty or racism, which is a dodge.”

The WSJ editor also took aim at black civil rights leaders and the media campaign they’ve created. “There’s this false narrative being pushed out there by folks like Michael Eric Dyson and [Al] Sharpton and the rest of the hustlers,” he said, “[and it's] that black men live in fear of being shot by cops in those neighborhoods. That too is nonsense.”

“I know something about growing up black and male in the inner city,” Riley explained, “and it’s not that hard to avoid getting shot by a cop. They pull you over, you answer their questions. you’re on your way.”

“The real difficulty is not getting shot by other black people, if you are a young black man in these neighborhoods!” Riley continued. “And again, that is something we need to talk about more! Cops are not the problem.  Cops are not producing these black bodies in the morgues every weekend in Chicago, in New York and Detroit and so forth,” he concluded. “That’s not cops. Those are black people shooting black people.”

Ah, yes.  Sadly what Riley says is true.  Black on black crime is the real oppressor and killer of blacks.  Running a fast second is a false narrative--the idea that "the devil made me do it", only the "devil" in this case is the "system", whitey, the police, the rich, Wall Street fat cats, anybody, everybody, but definitely someone else.  "All of them are to blame for me picking up my gun or knife and killing my black neighbour.  If the collective "devil" did not exist, I would not be doing what I am doing right now."  

Two things.  Firstly, where does that false narrative come from, and which people and entities peddle it constantly?  Secondly, the Christian Gospel will always, always press for moral responsibility and accountability to be laid firmly at the feet of the violent perpetrator (self-defence excepted) regardless of what temptations the system may throw up.  (Matthew 5: 38-42)