Let’s Play ‘What If’ with a False Equivalence
In October of 1995, Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam held a demonstration and rally on the ellipse in Washington, DC….
The Nation of Islam is an organization which the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) describes as black nationalist and a hate group.
Believing that “black men have been designated by the culture as the sacrificial lambs for male evil”, organizers of the Million Man March asked the black men in attendance to make a public display of their commitment to responsible and constructive behavior that would give the mass media positive imagery to broadcast.
Beyond the speeches and crowd reactions, nothing of consequence or note took place. There was no threat or hint of violence.
The assemblage was numbered at somewhere between 660 thousand and 1.1 million of almost exclusively black men…
The event’s 20th anniversary was commemorated in 2015 by a rally and demonstration in the same location. Again, with no threat or hint of violence…
But, what if either of the gatherings, stoked by Farrakh’s rhetoric, had morphed into an ugly and violent confrontation between law enforcement and the crowd?
What if Farrakhan and the event organizers had chosen to ignore and violate the terms and parameters of the permits issued and march up Pennsylvania Avenue with the expressed intention to storm the Capitol?
What if…
02/11/2021 @ 10:25 am
BTW
If you choose not to play that’s OK by me.
However, keep in mind that the Trump impeachment defense team will be playing ‘what if with a false equivalence’ big time…
If you don’t believe me, just watch…
02/11/2021 @ 11:36 am
Not only would they have prosecuted Farrakhan for your hypothetical case, I’ll go you one further. If Farrakhan had been involved with Donald Trump in the recent insurrection, they’d prosecute Farrakhan, and still give Trump a pass.
02/11/2021 @ 12:05 pm
Not totally outside the realm…
There was a time when Trump and Farrakhan shared an affinity for one another….
02/11/2021 @ 2:39 pm
Autocorrect turned Elipse into Eclipse.
There would be a bunch of different circumstances than what we saw if a large group of Black men turned violent at the Capitol. The first is that the police would be far faster to shoot to kill. The second is that there would be no hesitation at all from anyone in a position to offer armed assistance as a result of “optics.”
However, that wouldn’t be the anomaly – Jan.6 was the anomaly. Normally the question is Why don’t the police treat Black men like they treat White men? In this case it’s the other way: Why didn’t the police treat White men like they would have treated Black men? The more violent response was in this case the more appropriate one.
When it comes to Farrakhan, in this case I have two diverging opinions. On one hand I don’t like anyone who refers to my religion as a “gutter religion.” Antisemitism is certainly a characteristic of the Nation of Islam. On the other hand I think the Million Man March was a great thing. I agreed with the message completely. Men should embrace responsibility and what anyone outside thinks or does about this is completely irrelevant.
02/11/2021 @ 5:01 pm
I’m in full agreement…
02/11/2021 @ 10:05 pm
I dislike Farrakhan. I almost said it in my comment, but it al most goes without saying. Farrakhan is a jackass. My comment wasn’t a support of Farrakhan in any way. It was only to say, Farrakhan would get prosecuted for what Trump would not, even if they were cohorts.
02/12/2021 @ 1:11 am
I’m not too fond of Farrakhan either…
02/11/2021 @ 6:56 pm
Operation Peter Pan (1960–1962)
02/11/2021 @ 7:20 pm
I fail to see the relevance….
02/12/2021 @ 11:25 am
RP
Uncharacteristically selfish I slip-streamed into a ‘Guantanamera’ mood. Perplexed with voter decisions in light of conjecture that many Floridian Cubans cast their fate to the GOP. Perhaps there’s closely quartered cause and consequence melded with ‘…what if….’ And ‘…or else…’
en mass events. NYT of late pictorials a cool USA interactive map with county election tallies.
I strongly suspect that urban arson in Portland, Kenosha and Minneapolis during street protests-outrage due to cruel and unusual police overreaction garnered more GOP ‘support’ by rural as well as certain ‘cul-de-sac exurbanites’ a/k/a ‘white-flight’ (I am trying not to harp effete) hand to mouth gig workers clock punchers bronc busters etcetera. By way of anecdote, a white girlfriend of mine survived the MLK riots of ’68 huddled in a bathtub with her siblings as bullets hit the house. Nowadays she yet suffers ‘occasional’ bad dreams, never votes and struggles day by day (last I heard) with 4 or 5 kids, space heaters, an infirmed aunt and uncle, televised yoga, something called SNAP cards, Meals on Wheels, self-medicating box wine and nowadays struggles as a ‘power-seller’ on Craig’s List and eBay of her Antebellum doorstops.
Her first born is autistic. Piano savant. Ribaldly jams out like Jerry Lee Lewis! Last winter I tried to help with a couple of refurbished INSPIRONS and a brake job for that big ‘ol Buick. She is a pretty kid. Mary Travis long blonde hair. Tries to pinch hit at Habitat for Humanity. Flowers in the spring and so forth. Her ‘busy’ parlor heralds portraits of the Kennedys (Jon-Jon saluting LO;})
Martin Luther King and Ferlin Husky.
James
02/13/2021 @ 3:45 pm
Thanks for the clarification and refinement…