ALL LIVES MATTER As a former New Yorker and like most Americans, I am repulsed and heartbroken over the assassinations of two police officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu. My deepest sympathy to their families. A sad reminder that the women and men in blue separate us from anarchy. Their killer, with a long criminal record, shot his estranged girlfriend first before slaughtering the two officers. He claimed he shot the officers in revenge for the killings of two unarmed Black men, Michael Brown Jr and Eric Garner. The united revulsion over these killings was evidenced by immediate denunciations from the Brown and Garner families. Not only that, but statements from families of unarmed Black men killed by white police officers going back many years have issued statements denouncing violence and sympathy for the officers families. I have been involved in the Black Lives Matter protests in Boston. I would oppose anti-police chants or actions and those of us involved in these protests must remain vigilant against political radicals or criminal elements that would use these protests for their own nefarious purposes. I have been politically active since a teenager. I was especially active in New York in the seventies before moving to Boston. Controversial police killings are not new, it happened then and I was active in those protests. At that time, the New York police force was overwhelmingly white . One of the demands was to diversify the police force to reflect the demographics of the city . That has happened . It is no accident that the two murdered police officers were not white, but of color. Back then some labeled the efforts to reform the police force as anti-police, just as some do today. The Black Lives Matter movement seeks to build on these successes by making additional reforms. Like all movements there are many voices, not all of which I agree with, any more than I did 30 years ago . I could not help noticing in Boston during some of the demonstrations that I was in, that the multiracial police officers reflected the multiracial crowd. The killings of Officers Ramos and Liu were hate crimes. I am so grateful for the police in Boston and country, the overwhelming majority who are good , hardworking public servants. How many times to we walk by police officers and say nothing? How about saying hello and how are you? To show our respect . All lives matter.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 18:11:29 +0000
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