Democratic nominee Joe Biden is the wrong choice for Americans who are concerned about safety, security, and improved race relations in their communities. I know Palm Beach County as chair of our local GOP, and I know our residents support and defend our law enforcement community.
Biden’s failure to challenge, but instead back, some ofthe radical ideas advanced by Black Lives Matter will lead to more social unrest and increase racial tension.
Black Lives Matter advocates for defunding the police by exaggerating the number of unarmed blacks killed by law enforcement because the radical organization believes law enforcement targets blacks.
Due to the influence of Black Lives Matter propaganda, law enforcement is considered the enemy by many blacks, and almost any police action against blacks justifies rioting, violence, and looting as a consequence.
Recently in Chicago, a two-night round of rioting and looting occurred as a result of police shooting a black male suspect that fired multiple rounds at law enforcement.
According to news reports, about 13 police officers were hurt, and property damage caused by the rioters and looters was estimated at $65 million.
In a brazen act of defiance, Black Lives Matter Chicago orchestrated a protest over the arrests of about 100 people following the riots.
Going further, a Black Lives Matter Chicago organizer called the looting a type of “reparations,” thereby justifying the stealing of property on the notion that blacks today are owed money because their ancestors were slaves.
Ariel Atkins, a Black Lives Matter Chicago organizer, said, “I don’t care if someone decides to loot a Gucci or a Macy’s or a Nike store, because that makes sure that a person eats.”
Atkins added, “This is reparations,” and “Anything they wanted to take, they can take it because these businesses have insurance."
Reparations is an issue that divides Americans along racial lines. A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll reported 80 percent of blacks support the idea of the government paying reparations while 75 percent of whites oppose the idea.
Being a repository of radical policy ideas, Biden does not oppose reparations but wants to study it.
The unity platform assembled by Biden and Senato rBernie Sanders (I-VT) references a section called “Closing the Racial Gap,” which backs supporting H.R. 40 by Texas Democrat Representative Sheila Jackson Lee to establish a commission to study “...the legacy of 246 years of slavery and another century of Jim Crow segregation” on the “economic prospects of blacks today and to recommend remedies.”
When push comes to shove, Biden will follow the lead of radical Democrats who want reparations just like those that rammed elements of the Green New Deal in his energy policy.
At the end of the day, Biden’s inability to challenge Black Lives Matter will result in more social unrest, chaos, and tension between blacks and whites.
– Michael Barnett is the Palm Beach County RepublicanParty Chairman