On Sunday [July 10, 2016] Rudy Giuliani appeared on CBS’ Face the Nation where he made a slew of remarks that were mostly centered around his opinion the Black community is placing blame in the wrong direction.
“There’s too much violence in the Black community. So a Black will die 1% or less at the hands of the police, and 99% at the hands of a civilian; most often another Black,” he said. “So, if you want to protect Black lives, then you’ve got to protect Black lives not just against police, which happens rarely although with tremendous attention; which happens every 14 hours in Chicago – every 14 hours – and we never hear from Black Lives Matter.”
Giuliani continued, and again he quoted an inaccurate percentage of a 99% chance that a Black person will be killed by another Black person, while also giving Black parents suggestions on what to say to their children for precautionary measures.
“If I were a Black father, and I was concerned about the safety of my child – really concerned about it and not in a politically activist sense – I would say be very respectful of the police. Most of them are good, some can be very bad; and just be very careful. I’d also say be very careful of those kids in the neighborhood and don’t get involved with them because, son, there’s a 99% chance they’re going to kill you – not the police.”
He did make sure to mention a need of improvement on the “white side” saying: “whites have to realize that African American men, and boys, have a fear of being confronted by the police because of some of these incidents. Some people may consider it rational, some people may consider it irrational. But it’s a reality – it exists.”
Giuliani barely spoke about the recent incidents of white police officers killing Black men and the statistics of those kinds of situations happening; however, he didn’t fail to mention his disdain for Black Lives Matter.
“When you say ‘Black Lives Matter’ that’s inherently racist. Black lives matter, White lives matter, Asian lives matter, Hispanic lives matter. That’s anti-American, and it’s racist.”
Was Giuliani’s center of focus misdirected? Did he display a lack of sensitivity towards recent tragedy like the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile?
Discussion on the issue is unfaltering and must continue in order to reach any kind of resolve.
