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The liberal media have a deep bigotry of low expectations from the black community, masking it by condoning the looting and violence. Op-ed.

Ron Jager

June 6, 2020

George Floyd should not be remembered as a role model nor a martyr for the Black American community. Autopsy details revealed that he had significant levels of illegal drugs in his blood. He had been arrested for attempting to pass on counterfeit bills during a purchase. Floyd was a repetitive felon with crimes including armed robbery, had served a number of incarcerations in various jails and prisons. George Floyd was no angel.

At the time of his arrest, Floyd was under the influence of drugs and as “high” as you can be. He seemed to be disoriented and strongly resisted arrest by law officer Derek Chauvin. Let me be clear, under no circumstance should the arrest of a Black American (or any American) end with his being suffocated to death by a police officer in the process of the arrest, and I have no doubt that the police officers involved in the death of Floyd will be held accountable to the full letter of the law.

The Black American community, by defending and making George Floyd out to be a heroic individual, is sending the wrong message to the rest of America. It is a lie to present George Floyd as an example of exemplary behavior rather than what he truly represents; a Black American criminal who grew up in a broken and violent Black culture.

The broadcasted and social media did their utmost to identify with the rioters and looters by justifying the violent demonstrations as a legitimate response to police brutality. This fake narrative has much to do with this being an election year, and the Democrat Party and anti-Trump forces were unwilling to waste a golden opportunity to blame President Trump for the situation.

During the Memorial Day weekend, just prior to the death of George Floyd, over 40 Black Americans were murdered in the city of Chicago by their fellow Black Americans, this all in one weekend, and the media simply ignored the blood bath which has become a common feature of weekends in that city.

There is an underlying message here and it is the real reason that the media so passionately identifies with the Black rioters and looters while ignoring the Chicago murder statistics. Sadly, their reaction is based on a deep and historical bigotry of low expectations. The media simply doesn’t expect more from the Black American community. As far as the liberal and leftist media are concerned, they expect Black Americans to continue to project as criminals, rioters, looters and welfare recipients and that is what they will portray.

Successful Black Americans such as Dr. Ben Carson, Prof. Condoleezza "Condi" Rice or Ms. Candice Owen who are all articulate, highly intelligent, and successful public personalities simply don’t interest the media, they don’t fit the part and counter the pervasive bigotry of low expectations found everywhere in the liberal media.

Social media has played a crucial role over the past 10 days by synchronizing many of the demonstrations, so that they appear to be much more than a manifestation of random chaos and rioting. Instead, we see an organized and highly coordinated mass rebellion against President Trump, local police and National Guard forces, and even America as a nation. Little attention has been given to the role of social media during these mass demonstrations in giving antisemites and Jew-haters a perfect opportunity to use the mayhem and chaos to target and attack Jewish stores and Jewish institutions.

Numerous Jewish businesses and Jewish Houses of Worship were either broken into or had graffiti tagged on their walls in the Beverly-Fairfax district of the City of Los Angeles. Many Jewish leaders have privately admitted that Jewish businesses and Jewish Houses of Worship have been unfairly targeted by the violent demonstrators. At least four synagogues were vandalized in recent days, with anti-Israel graffiti that included obscene words and pro-Palestinian propaganda. Similar acts of anti-Semitic vandalism and destruction have appeared in cities throughout America, under the guise of demonstrations on behalf of George Floyd, in American cities where there are clusters of Jewish businesses and Jewish Houses of Worship.

An additional casualty of the dominant role of social media during the violent demonstrations has been that social media irresponsibly and without any accountability publicly endorsed, coordinated, and encouraged mass demonstrations just as America began to witness a daily and progressive decline in the level of corona infections and corona virus death rates. The public who did not participate in the violent demonstrations, yet has been prevented from participating in public prayer, for example, and respected calls to remain in lockdown, will most likely no longer abide by lockdowns and other measures to prevent the spread of corona virus.

Politicians. mainly from the Democrat Party. who have come out in favor of the demonstrators, most prominently Mayor De Blasio of New York City, have destroyed the credibility of politicians and health officials to order lockdowns in the future. Allowing mass demonstrations and demonstrators over the past 10 days to disregard even the most minimum restrictions on public gatherings, means the American public will trust no one in the future who orders lockdowns or additional restrictions to prevent future outbreaks. The American public has witnessed that protestors and violent demonstrators who looted and rioted were treated very differently from all other Americans who for the most part have been law abiding and cooperative as America took steps to combat the spread of the Corona virus.

Politician’s and health experts, out of concern for the future vital national public heath of Americans, will no longer be able to effectively convince America of the justification for an additional lockdown, while at the same time they have supported Antifa and other violent groups that have for the past 10 days attempted to bring America to her knees.

This will be the true legacy of George Floyd.

Ron Jager grew up in the South Bronx of New York, making Aliyah in 1980. Served for 25 years in the IDF as a Mental Health Field Officer in operational units. Prior to retiring was Commander of the Central Psychiatric Clinic for Reserve Solders at Tel-Hashomer. Since retiring has been involved in strategic consultancy to NGO's and communities in the Gaza Envelope on resiliency projects to assist first responders and communities. Ron has written numerous articles for outlets in Israel and abroad focusing on Israel and the Jewish world.

Website: www.ronjager.com

Tags: Media, lockdown, De Blasio, Ron Jager