When I look at the blatant hypocrisy that boldly is exhibited in this country, particularly as it relates to the treatment of people of color versus that of White people, it becomes extremely frustrating to ignore.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of White supremacy is “believing that the White race is better than all other races and should have control over all other races.”
As you look at the history of the United States, from inception, it is clear that White supremacy has been a foundational belief that has shaped and molded this country’s culture.
White people have been able to do whatever they want in this country, with very little accountability. Hell, in many cases, there has been no accountability whatsoever.
Take the recent news that several leaders of the heavily armed group of White people, who broke the law and took over the federally-owned Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon last year, were acquitted of all counts against them.
Acquitted? Can you believe that? Well, if you can’t, please know that I can, because that is the way things have always functioned in this country. White people can do certain things and get away with certain things that Black people could never get away with, and it’s so unfair.
All seven of the defendants in the case were charged with conspiracy to impede federal employees from discharging their duties, as well as federal weapons charges, after they literally took over government property and threatened to use violent force if necessary against federal law enforcement officials if they tried to remove these thugs from federal government-owned property. These heavily armed, White anti-government thugs held that federal property hostage via an armed standoff for 41 days. 41 whole days!
This is a prime example of the blatant boldness of White supremacy.
The professed leader of the group, 41-year old Ammon Bundy, has become the vocal leader of this group of armed thugs, and has consistently repeated that he was fighting for the rights of the struggling rancher against an oppressive and overreaching government.
Wow! The boldness right? Wrong! Especially when you consider how people of color have been treated for doing the same exact thing or less – even when they protest peacefully with no weapons.
Look at what’s happening to the peaceful protestors, who have been protesting since 2014, in opposition to the Dakota Access pipeline, that is under construction near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. Hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of protestors have been out there, and thank God for social media that has been to show the truth about how these peaceful protestors have been being manhandled and bullied by law enforcement officials who have been doing so dressed in riot gear and using various weapons. Despite the fact that these people of color, who are standing up for the fact that they believe they are the rightful owners of that land under an 1851 treaty with the U.S. government that they reneged on, have been forcefully arrested and severely injured as a result of their decision to protest, the federal government has done nothing to stop the abuse.
I guess the only time you can get a peaceful resolution between law enforcement officials or the government, is when you are White with a cause, not a person of color with one.
When it comes to White supremacy, it is very rare that the apple falls too far from the tree.
Ammon Bundy, and his brother Ryan Bundy, learned how to stand for what they believe as White men, and not worry about being held accountable for their actions, by none other than their father, the Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who drew national attention in 2014 after he staged a heavily-armed standoff with federal authorities in Nevada. Cliven Bundy claimed he was standing up to the federal government over land rights, and boldly threatened to use weapons to stop the federal government and law enforcement officials by any means necessary.
You guessed it. No riot gear. No tear gas. No forceful arrests. No severe injuries. Just another example of the blatant boldness of White supremacy.
Take the Black Lives Matter movement for example. How many times have we seen video of law enforcement officials wearing riot gear and using various weapons to attack peaceful protestors and forcefully arrest them? Whenever people of color stand up for what they believe are their “supposed” Constitutional rights, they are treated more like criminals than U.S. citizens.
Anybody remember the story in 1985, about the Philadelphia-based Black liberation group called MOVE, which was involved in a standoff with law enforcement officials too? Want to know how that standoff ended? Well, I’m glad you asked.
That standoff ended on May 13, 1985, with the Philadelphia Police Department dropping a bomb from a helicopter on the home of this group of activists, tragically killing 11 MOVE members, including their leader John Africa and 5 children. In all, 65 homes were destroyed, and despite two grand jury investigations and a commission finding that top government officials were totally irresponsible and grossly negligent, absolutely no one from the city government was ever criminally charged and everyone went on with business as usual.
What about back in August 1955, when Emmett Till was kidnapped, beaten mercilessly and then viciously murdered by Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam? Both Bryant and Milam abducted Till and gouged out one of his eyes, shot him in the head and threw his body in the Tallahatchie River with a 70-pound cotton gin fan tied around his neck with barbed wire. Bryant and Milam were indicted for the kidnapping and murder, but were acquitted, despite all of the evidence presented. Several jurors acknowledged that they knew Bryant and Milam were guilty, but refused to find them guilty because they felt life imprisonment or the death penalty was not a just punishment for any White man who had taken a Black man’s life. Even after Bryant and Milam boldly confessed to the murder of Till in a national magazine, justice was still not rendered. His mother, Mamie Bradley, turned to the federal government for help, and tried to meet with President Dwight Eisenhower, but he refused, along with infamous FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who offered no assistance. No justice, no peace!
Just another example of the blatant boldness of White supremacy.
Ammon Bundy calls the group of heavily-armed White thugs he is a part of the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, and states that the group’s purpose is to restore and defend the U.S. Constitution, yet they disrespect the federal government and threaten to use weapons to kill members of law enforcement, and they get tons of respect, reverence and due process from law enforcement and the federal government. Let a person of color do the same thing and you know what will happen. Hell, you know what will happen if you’re an unarmed person of color.
If only people of color could get the same level of respect, reverence and due process the Bundy family has received, as well as the White race has a whole has historically received. What a wonderful country this would be!
Jeffrey L. Boney serves as Associate Editor and is an award-winning journalist for the Houston Forward Times newspaper. Jeffrey has been a frequent contributor on the Nancy Grace Show and Primetime Justice with Ashleigh Banfield. Jeffrey has a national daily radio talk show called Real Talk with Jeffrey L. Boney, and is a dynamic, international speaker, experienced entrepreneur, business development strategist and Founder/CEO of the Texas Business Alliance. If you would like to request Jeffrey as a speaker, you can reach him at jboney1@forwardtimes.com