Can we handle the truth?

I am fascinated that the president of the NYPD police union believes a statement from NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio contributed to the deaths of Officers Liu & Ramos, slain by someone from Baltimore.  I read it.  Strikes me as a call to consider what is reality for many Americans.  True, it is not rosy.  But it strikes me as right.


Most folks outside of NYC don't know that Bill De Blasio was elected mayor largely due to his promise to reform a police department that intentionally arrests people for "crimes" like jay walking, subway dancing, graffitti, or - in Eric Garner's case - because they suspect them of selling "loosies" (single untaxed cigarettes).  Although he hasn't made much headway in reforming the department, there's been a high level of low to no trust between Gracie Mansion and 1 Police Plaza since Day One of the mayor's administration.  

That's reality.  Let's look at reality in present day America.  A prosecutor handling the most sensitive situation of the year openly admits calling witnesses before a grand jury that he knew were discredited, but did so because "the jury had to hear all the witnesses."  No.  They should only have heard from credible witnesses.  Reality is that there was a video in the case of the death of Eric Garner & the police officer freely admitted the actions he took.  That wasn't enough to bring in an indictment.  It wasn't that prosecutors couldn't get a conviction;  they couldn't even get indictments.  Why is it important to bring such cases to trial?  The facts get to be aired in public, the closest we get these days to transparency.

That's not opinion, that's reality. All Mayor De Blasio did was to share his biracial family's reality.  If his statement created a "firestorm," then maybe it's because people can't handle the truth.   

"This is profoundly personal to me. I was at the White House the other day, and the president of the United States turned to me, and he met Dante a few months ago, and he said that Dante reminded him of what he looked like as a teenager. And he said I know you see this crisis through a very personal lens. And I said to him, I did. 

"Because Chirlane and I have had to talk to Dante for years about the dangers that he may face. A good young man, law-abiding young man who would never think to do anything wrong. And yet, because of a history that still hangs over us, the dangers he may face, we've had to literally train him—as families have all over this city for decades—in how to take special care in any encounter he has with the police officers who are there to protect him.

"And that painful sense of contradiction that our young people see first, that our police are here to protect us, and we honor that, and at the same time, there's a history we have to overcome, because for so many of our young people, there's a fear. And for so many of our families, there's a fear.

"So I've had to worry over the years. Chirlane's had to worry. Is Dante safe each night? There are so many families in this city who feel that each and every night. Is my child safe? And not just from some of the painful realities—crime and violence in some of our neighborhoods—but is safe from the very people they want to have faith in as their protectors.

"That's the reality.

"It conforms to something bigger that you've heard come out in the protests in Ferguson and all over the country. This is now a national moment of grief, a national moment of pain and searching for a solution. And you've heard in so many places, people of all backgrounds utter the same basic phrase. They've said "Black lives matter." And they said it because it had to be said. It's a phrase that should never have to be said. It should be self-evident. But our history, sadly, requires us to say that black lives matter."