Officers policing certain communities have often been pilloried for their tendency to pull over an inordinately high number of innocent minorities for what is cynically referred to as “driving while black.” The charge is not without merit, but it is also a simplistic take on a larger problem. Since blacks commit a vastly disproportionate number of criminal acts, then what is deemed evidence of systemic racism could actually be responsible policing. If the objective is to make and keep neighbourhoods safe, then we should be able to have adult discussions about how to maximize effectiveness while minimizing inconvenience to law abiding citizens.

Ironically, the same people who carp about “profiling” of black citizens simultaneously, with no apparent shame, are in the habit of labelling everyone who doesn’t agree with their approach to racial issues as guilty of being a racist. In what amounts to a charge of “blogging while Christian,” (negative attributions based on group identity rather than evidence) I was  branded as an assumed bigot. Here is my opponent’s take on my blog about the Christian response to race relations:

“I found the whole thread kind of creepy. I saw an old white man shaking his fist (or at least wagging his finger) at a world wide, well attended & mostly peaceful protest against racism. Instead of patting yourself on the back, I would ask myself what is it about BLM that gets you so worked up? What are you afraid of?”

The insinuation was absolutely unmistakable. My indictment of the BLM movement alone revealed my lack of insight into my underlying racism. In fairness, this white man (roughly 2 years my junior) may have been linking this with my creepy old white man’s perspective on race overall. It is impossible to discern what specifically served as evidence of my bigoted nature since, after tossing out this red meat, he retreated into silence. I had invited my critic to relate in context what I had imparted that was specifically and objectively racist. Furthermore, since he too is no spring chicken and has known me all his life, I also requested any proof over his lifetime through my words or actions that supported his assessment. For the sake of brevity, I will summarize my key points here:

• Blacks should be viewed and treated the same as anyone else because we are all part of the human race and skin colour is irrelevant
• Activists on the left routinely invent and perpetuate risibly fraudulent “race crimes” that tend to be formulaic caricatures of how they believe Christians and conservatives to act and think
• The left focuses on the plight of black criminals and tend to show indifference toward victims of crime (who are primarily black)
• Confirmation bias leads them to see anecdotal and isolated events as hard evidence of rampant racism among (non-leftist) whites and the police
• Excusing bad behaviour even among genuine victims of maltreatment (especially when based on historical wrongs) is unjust and infantilizing
• Assigning victim status to an identity group is disempowering and disrespectful
• Poverty and racism does not cause criminality, but the disproportionately high rates of both poverty and criminality in black communities does match statistical expectations based on the rates and impact of growing up in fatherless homes
• You can’t correct a problem by changing the target of discrimination
• I oppose BLM because it is a political movement whose stated values are to promote Marxism, undermine the family unit and promote gender dysphoria
• They are also directly responsible for causing and promoting violence because the BLM organization has made no effort to denounce the violence and, along with leftist media and politicians, have validated their actions
• BLM has led to more black victims (through murder, injury or destroying businesses) than actions of police officers
• While I support the right to peacefully protest, there was no justification here as the officers involved faced swift justice; thus, BLM needlessly stoked racial division where there was unity and laid the groundwork for riots, chaos and destruction
• Disregard for babies lost through abortion reveals selective concern for black lives
• Police are not systemically racist and such stereotyping is dangerous – genuine racists are few and are no more or less likely to be officers than members of any demographic

Now that my prejudice is on full display, I will deign to present the commonly promoted positions on race adopted by the left that I maintain is objectively racist.

• The contention that voter ID is racist because blacks are less capable of acquiring and presenting ID than whites is the height of racism. Worse yet, if the left actually believed this, then they should explain why they advocate for social services, schools, job market, etc. if blacks disproportionately can’t access them due to having no ID.
• Their opposition to school choice unduly impacts families in poor black communities where students are corralled into failing public schools based on location with no hope of improving their academic options. They only tend to champion choice when it comes to abortion – which disproportionately takes the lives of black babies.
• Leftists have made the argument that abortions help to drive down the number of criminals. Considering the vast majority of abortuaries are in or near black communities, this is taking profiling to the realm of pre-crimes where their fates are determined in the womb.
• Affirmative action, hiring quotas and lowered standards for academic testing all let us know that the left thinks blacks are less intelligent and need “whitey” to give them a boost in order to make it. Worse yet, the lowered academic standards put black students in programs and schools not commensurate with their abilities and thus sets them up for failure. Blacks are far more likely to drop out since lowered standards put them in above their heads instead of allowing them to compete with their academic peers. Those who don’t drop out live under the stigma of being carried that they got there with help rather than earning their way. It also overtly handicaps Asians for their academic acumen, thus applying competing racial inequities.
• Leftists promote the minimum wage laws that heavily handicap unskilled blacks by pricing them out of the job market. The lack of early work experience keeps them living in poverty and makes them less marketable.
• Focusing on micro-aggressions and promoting victimhood is not only crippling, but it makes blacks (and young people in general) selfish and ungrateful. They are taught to find racism in hidden places while blatant maltreatment and slavery of blacks in other parts of the world are ignored. This dishonours black lives globally while creating entitled snobs who want to bend society to satiate their emotional states.
• The monolithic presumption that blacks must be Democrats (liberals) is extremely insulting and the very essence of a racial stereotype. Derogatory labels like “Uncle Tom” and “Aunt Jemima” directed at conservative blacks puts often white leftists in charge of determining what positions a “true black” must adopt.
• Failing to distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants or deliberately lumping all minorities together. This is similar to the approach to border walls (which they label racist). It assumes that all minorities are the same and, while they admonish all white Christian conservatives as inherently racist and all men as potential rapists; they refuse to acknowledge that malefactors like MS-13 or crime lords would ever exploit open borders. The indifference to the vast majority of women raped and coyotes kidnapping children to enter the country shows an inexplicable disregard to the well-being of legal immigrants of all backgrounds.
• The rush to denounce terrorist acts by self-professed Muslims as having nothing to do with the faith dishonours moderate Muslims. Creating an atmosphere where criticism of Islam is not permitted muzzles moderate Muslims from denouncing those carrying out evil in their names. This is particularly disturbing considering moderate Muslims are primary targets of the radicals. Conversely, their haste to find tenuous links to attribute terrorism to Christians and conservatives also ignores that vast swaths of Christians are non-white – thus insulting both Muslims and Christians.
• Labelling those who don’t buy into critical race theory and other leftist worldview positions as “racist” is itself racist.
• The belief that only whites can be racist and believing all (non-leftist) whites are innately racist and carry “white privilege” is bigoted.
• The broad assumption that racists and victims are the product of demographics and melanin rather than one’s experiences and character, circumstances and actions is outrageously offensive.
• Insisting on hiring and voting in individuals based on their skin colour while insisting that anyone who takes umbrage does so due to racial intolerance rather than their professionalism, skills or policy positions.
• The sweeping presumption of white privilege imbues every Caucasian regardless of context which is a presumption that however society changes, whites always hold power over blacks.
• White leftists policing “cultural appropriation” as though the only reason whites might wish to adopt cultural distinctives of others do so to mock rather than as a show of respect or simply because they deem certain aspects to be enjoyable and/or worthy of emulating.
• The fact that those who wear blackface appears to be uniquely a proclivity of leftists. Now this is something I find genuinely creepy.
• Debating whether certain people based on level of melanin, pedigree of other attributions are “genuine blacks” or sufficiently black.
• Leftists like Elizabeth Warren and Rachel Dolezal claiming a false racial heritage to gain an advantage while maintaining that minorities are without privilege.
• Demanding diversity trainings because the left feels qualified to teach on the plight of all minorities as some monolithic group.
• Fighting for “social justice” which insists that every event must not be judged based on its merits, but some arbitrary social stratification based on presumed power dynamic.
• Indifference to crumbling black neighbourhoods that almost entirely are in cities and states run by Democrats.
• Failure to seek to strengthen the black family and instead highlighting the welfare state. The former would help blacks to be happier and more successful while the latter creates government dependence to maintain black families on the margins of poverty while disincentivizing the prospects of advancement.
• Covering over and excusing the undeniable link between the Democrat party and their past pattern of racism, Jim Crowe and segregation while insisting that the parties “switched sides” when their fraud is exposed. This is especially interesting considering how backward focused the left is when it comes to fomenting rage over historical abuses.
• A fixation on diversity where only skin colour, sex and sexual orientation matter and not diversity of opinion – thus ensuring the “right” (left) people who affirm their ideology are given preference.
• Democrats (and notably the Democratic Black Caucus) sitting on their hands when it was accurately touted at Trump’s State of the Union address last year that unemployment rates for minorities under his administration had hit an all time low.
• Ignoring the fact that all societies (including blacks) took part in slavery; thus suggesting that the culpability is higher for whites because we have a superior moral ethic and thus more is expected of us.

As a final thought, my opponent’s determination to paint the actions of BLM as “mostly peaceful” (like the media) has a hollow ring. From the time of the civil rights movement under MLK and Rosa Parks (who faced far more severe discrimination than modern day grievance agitators), Christians and conservatives are the gold standard for pacifism. Tea Party gatherings, the March for Life, prayer vigils outside abortion clinics, #walkaway events, etc., are models of decorum and respect. On the other hand, the Occupy Movement, BLM, antifa, campus speaker protests, etc. are all marred by violence, incivility, trashing the environment and shouting slogans with little evidence they even know what they are advocating. Instead of minimizing the numbers of bomb throwers on the left, we should be asking what leads the leftists to perpetually spiral into rage mobs only to have their actions defended by their peers. In my opinion, their simmering anger and penchant for outrage stems from a lack of inner peace that only Christ can provide.