GOP needs to reassess stance on Black Lives Matter

Republican presidential contenders have consistently chosen to dismiss and misrepresent the Black Lives Matter movement.

Donald Trump has resorted to unfounded smears.

“I think they’re trouble,” he said in an interview on Fox News, and then implied that any movement dedicated to police reform was by nature a hate group.

Other GOP presidential candidates have also been disdainful. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker claims he doesn’t have time to address the concerns of Black Lives Matter activists, while Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul refuses to acknowledge the movement’s name.

Several, including Walker, have bolstered the falsehood that attacks and shootings of police officers have increased in the past months, presumably because of Black Lives Matter’s activism. In fact, while every police fatality is a tragedy, the truth is that 2015 so far has been among the safest years in law enforcement ever.

Republicans are conveniently ignoring the real roots of conflict between the public and law enforcement. They virtually never mention the Justice Department’s report on Ferguson, Mo., that strongly criticizes systemic problems within the city’s police force. It finds that that Ferguson cops routinely engaged in excessive punitive revenue collection targeted at black citizens and concludes that “Ferguson’s approach to law enforcement both reflects and reinforces racial bias.”

Blacks are overwhelmingly more likely than whites to be incarcerated, to be fatally shot by police, and to be racially profiled. Blacks are disproportionately subjected to a damaging crackdown on minor misbehavior from the time they begin schooling, described by researchers as the “school-to-prison pipeline.” Of all the current candidates, the one with the best platform for addressing these challenges is Democratic presidential contender Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Sanders — after facing a few awkward moments with Black Lives Matter protesters at his rallies — responded like a true statesman by acknowledging the legitimate sources of frustration behind such activism. He issued a platform that squarely addresses the issue. His proposals include establishing a new model police training program and a ban on for-profit prisons.

Sanders’ approach acknowledges that “All lives can’t matter until black lives matter.” The Republicans, by contrast, are busy heightening racial antagonism and public fears.

This story was originally published September 19, 2015 at 12:03 AM with the headline "GOP needs to reassess stance on Black Lives Matter."