When do Black Lives Matter? Is it when the killer is Black or when the killer is white? Do Black lives matter when there is no opportunity for profit from the loss of life?
I am sure you will agree when I say Black-on-Black killings are not profitable, nor do they create media attention or profit.
Blacks killing Blacks do not have an appetite for marching in the streets with signs saying, "Stop Killing Us." The killing of Blacks by other Blacks does not open the media floodgates or justify looters stealing new washing machines or big-screen TVs, among other things.
Does anyone believe Blacks would be allowed to break in and loot Walmart or any of the other big box stores to protest the killing of a Black by another Black? The bottom-line is that Black lives are as valuable as a rock when that life is taken by another Black. Black lives taken by police officers become valuable because cities will pay millions for it, but Black-on-Black killing pays zero dollars.
Today the word racism pays. Why not be laser-focused on education, Black businesses, respect, reading, math, successful Black men and women, to produce better communities and a better nation?
In the '40s and '50s, Black folk didn't hold pity parties about being victims of racism. The record reveals that racism did not hinder Black folk from making progress, against the odds.
Years ago, Blacks had dry cleaners, automotive shops, a movie theater, restaurants, taxi cab services, neighborhood grocery stores, a beauty and barber supply store, a cosmetologist school, and college, among many other businesses in Pine Bluff, but not only here, but this trend was also all across the nation.
What do you think would happen if the focus on what it takes to become successful had the same intensity placed on the positive as is on racism?
We would see a change in behaviors. For God's sake, why don't we refocus the attention toward no violence, encouraging our young Black men to stop killing each other, telling them to abandon those negative behaviors that put them in prison?
Why not start now creating the same environment as racism does, only positive and successful stories are promoted and highlighted. This was the formula back in the day when racism was at its zenith; just consider how much progress has been made to date.
The dedication ceremony of a portion of Interstate 530 named for the late Civil Rights Attorney Wiley A. Branton Sr. exposes where Black folk once were.
"Approximately 58 years ago...the population ratio of Blacks was approximately one-third, and whites were two-thirds of the population in Pine Bluff and Jefferson County. Blacks owned a substantial interest in real estate and consequently paid a considerable amount of money in real estate taxes. However, no Blacks served as city council members, and no Blacks were in the Pine Bluff Police Department or the Fire Department. No Blacks served on the Jefferson County Quorum Court; the Jefferson County Sheriff Office had no Blacks serving as deputies. No Black served on the Pine Bluff School Board, and no Blacks served as jurors in court proceedings. Black folk in the remote area of this city had no running water and therefore were required to maintain outdoor toilet facilities. The streets in the predominantly Black communities were not paved and without any street lights. Law enforcement agencies did not respond immediately to deal with problems in the Black communities in remote areas. The public schools were separate and not equal..." -- Federal Judge George Howard Jr.
(Howard, who is now deceased, presented the original document to Pine Bluff Interested Citizens for Voter Registration Inc., where it is archived.)
Some have discovered a word that immediately shorts out thought and civil dialogue. The word is racism.
Racism conjures up not-so-pleasant things of the past that happened in this nation; plus it's a way to make money. Giving validity to removing statues and names from the public square, nonetheless, this does nothing to change history that's already in the books.
We change history by building on what was wrong to make it right, leaving the record in public view to explain the motivation for the change. It is ungodly to weaponize bad history to gain power. The word racism leaves so many afraid to respond to injustices while others are afraid of being called a sellout or Uncle Tom if they speak up and bring a different perspective to the conversation. America is not a racist nation, no matter how some portray it to be.
How can a systemic racist nation elect a Black man to serve in the highest office in this land? The population in America is approximately 16 percent Black. This percentage of Blacks can't elect a President of the United States. The systemic racist nation elected a Black man president not once but twice.
However, less than four years after a Black man left office, the nation has become racist to the core. How can this be? Gentle reader, you can tell, common sense has left the building.
Fast forward to 2021, and let us compare more facts related to systemic racism. There are more interracial marriages in America today than ever before. Schools are integrated all across this nation. Blacks hold high-level positions in major businesses.
States have elected Black U.S. and State senators, representatives, city mayors, council members, county judges, justices of the peace, sheriffs, school board members. Blacks hold positions as school superintendents, police, and fire chiefs, city clerks, directors of city departments, etc. Blacks have made inroads in professional sports. They are head coaches in football, basketball, baseball. Blacks rule and super rule as players in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Blacks are professionals in tennis, golf, and even in hockey. Do we ever take inventory from whence we as Blacks have come? When we do this, we come to realize Black folk have made tremendous progress in a systemic racist nation, and the picture is not as bad as it is painted.
Booker T. Washington once said, "There is another class of coloured people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs -- partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs."
Sounds familiar? America is too powerful a nation to be destroyed from without. It has to be an inside job.
The Rev. Jesse C. Turner is executive director of Pine Bluff Interested Citizens for Voter Registration Inc. and president of Pine Bluff Faith Community Coalition Ministerial Alliance.