SOME COMPARISONS

In the past few days, President Donald Trump has doubled down on his crackdown on Black Lives Matter protests in the city of Portland and threatened to send federal troops to other cities in a similar fashion.  Although he claims that his actions are being made to keep the peace and prevent "anarchists" from doing damage to federal buildings, it's obvious that his real motivation is to use troops to shut down protestors that he doesn't agree with while provoking violence that he can then use to fire up his political base.  The fact that his campaign has already used such images in their advertising reveals this to be true.

The most chilling aspect of this crackdown has been the sight of police in full combat gear grabbing protestors seemingly at random and then dragging them off into unmarked vans like the private army of a fascist dictator instead of peace officers in a democracy. 

To the conservatives who defend Trump's actions as necessary to prevent riots I would ask how they would feel if a Democratic leader like Barack Obama had used the same tactics against anti-abortion protestors?  After all, if you really want to look at a movement in this country that has often resorted to violence, the anti abortionists really fit the  bill.   According to the National Abortion Federation, since nineteen ninety three there have been eleven murders and twenty six attempted murders made by anti abortionists, not to mention dozens of bombings and arson attacks made against abortion clinics.  Clearly this is a movement that uses killing and violent intimidation as a means to its ends at a much higher level than the Black Lives Matter movement.  Despite that, I still believe that the anti abortionists have every right to engage in peaceful protest, and the idea that any of them could be beaten or dragged off by federal troops just for marching sickens me, even as much as I may disagree with them.

The issue of whether or not the Black Lives Matter protests are violent or not  gets even more complicated when reports of white supremacists purposely trying to hurt the whole movement by stirring up anger and violence start to roll in .  And then there's the tricky question as to whether or not the actions of the troops are preventing violence or provoking it, with both sides of the argument rolling videos to prove their point.  The important thing to remember is that the Black Lives Matter movement is pushing for a reevaluation of how the police in this country interact with the African American communities that they are supposed to be serving and protecting, and it's long overdue.  It's a worthy goal, even if some members of the movement take it too far.  Remember that in the early twentieth century suffragettes in Britain often resorted to acts of violence including arson, to try and win the right to vote.  Was it right for them to burn down buildings?  Obviously not.  But were they fighting for a just cause?  Again, of course they were.  Hopefully, the worthy goals of the Black Lives Matter movement will not be dismissed because of some overzealous members.