Police officers unjustly killed another black man. This time it was in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Protests
—ranging from peaceful sit-in's to destructive riot
s—are currently happening worldwide.
If you want to learn why you should never display the "thin blue line" flag, patch, or banner as well as why you should never say the words: Blue Lives Matter or All Lives Matter, read on...
Driving thru the Oregon countryside in 2018, my wife pointed to a pickup truck flying two large flags and asked if I knew what the black and white one represented. Although I'd never seen an "American flag" with: black bars instead of red, a black field behind the stars instead of blue, and a horizontal blue bar thru the middle
—I was able to make a reasonably informed guess (because the other flag in the back of the pickup was a confederate battle flag).
There are a few variations of banners with these blue lines. Even though they range from those with solid black backgrounds, or are combined with the stars and bars, or the union jack (as well as with the aforementioned stars and stripes) I've discovered one strong common denominator: all appear to have been created after 2013—when the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement began.
For decades, the descriptor
thin blue line has been used as a simile. By referring to the police force as the "front line" of law enforcement, the phrase successfully brings to mind a line of blue-uniformed officers fighting valiantly to separate and protect law abiding citizens from criminals. I joined the Military Police in 1985 but it wasn't until 1990
—with the film
The Thin Blue Line—that I learned this term was a label for police.
If someone wants to show police solidarity and also wants to display their support in the form of a banner (on the back of their Ford F150, as an example) they should consider a emblem from the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). This organization is over a century old, advocates for the safety of law enforcement officers, and the FOP logo contains no words intended to usurp the message of another group.
There are a growing number of flags, banners, and signs which bring universal scorn to those who publicly display them. The Blue Lives Matter banner is now joining with the signs of the "Church" from Westboro, Kansas; the flag of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (the Nazi Swastika); and variants of the US Confederate Battle Flag (Confederate Southern Cross).
Specious claims of "pride in one's heritage" are no longer palatable and displaying one's racism proudly is less and less tolerated every year. But still, there are many who feel a need to display an emblem decrying their hate, so the white supremacists have recently adopted the
thin blue line flag, which provides a superficially plausible explanation (claiming to support the police) while actually displaying their hate-filled message (which is that black lives don't matter to them).
- The Thin Blue Line Flag is equivalent to the Blue Lives Matter banner.
- The purpose of stating "Blue Lives Matter" is to oppose the "Black Lives Matter" movement.
- The primary "Black Lives Matter" message is to stop police violence against people of color.
Thus: Displaying a
Thin Blue Line flag means you
support violence against people of color by the police
—there is no other rational interpretation. Any statement/emblem which contradicts that of the Black Lives Matter message, logically, stands in support of violence and murder of black people by law enforcement personnel.
Keep following the logic...
If someone declares Black Lives Matter (by banner, statement, or flag) they are protesting police violence on black people by sharing that organization's slogan.
Any replies similar to: all lives matter, or blue lives matter, or everyone's life matters, are contrary statements made by those disagreeing that black people have been and will continue to be unjustly targeted with violence by law enforcement personnel (which is what the Black Lives Matter movement wants to stop).
After
posting this article in 2018, I received a few proudly ignorant commenters claiming they were unaware the blue lives matter banner meant black lives don't matter, but rather than accept this rational argument, they all seemed to prefer keeping their emotion-based ignorance.
Hate is a strong emotion.
Nobody ever likes to think they previously made a wrong-headed decision—at the same time, we all like to hear others admit when they discover they made a mistake in judgement; we consider those who are able to recognize their mistakes (and are "big enough" to admit it) to be leaders who possess mettle, strong character and emotional intelligence.
When was the last time this was you? Could this be you in the future?
Maybe a change, which we all can contribute to making, begins with your awareness that racist police violence has to stop. If you change your apathy today, tomorrow maybe you'll be big enough to tell the ignorant multitude around you that they are part of the problem.
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