Earlier today I viewed an excerpt from a short video clip of Ray Lewis, former Baltimore Ravens NFL star speaking to the Black Lives Matter movement about gun violence deaths of Black men resulting from the use of a gun by other Black men. Lewis made the point that such deaths are more frequent and quantitatively greater than those Black men killed by white police officers.
What he said is true.
I support the Black Lives Matter movement in it's awakening the national conscience to numerous instances of lethal force used by police in killing black men. Most of such shootings occurred under circumstances where the use of non-lethal force, as an option, may have been possible to effect, what an otherwise may have been a lawful arrest.
What surprised me is not truth of what Lewis said, but the "pushback" against his comments from persons purporting to represent the Black Lives Matters movement and other so-called "leaders."
I have often quoted in speeches and in this space a statement attributed to New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan that "Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own set of facts."
Failure, especially, but not only, of African-American political leaders to publicly confront and address the magnitude of black on black violence in communities across our nation is morally obscene.
Clothed in what appears to be their own self-indulgent opportunism, many of them devote more time and attention to the Clinton and Sanders presidential election efforts than the nationwide 24/7 gun killings of black men by other black men.
Many "Establishment" Black politicians are so busy eating at the trough of the Clinton campaign for president, their inaction of leadership and silence about Black on Black gun violence in our respective communities presumptively is not a priority of concern for them. Otherwise, they would do and publicly say something about it, and seek to urgently address it.
Matthew 16:26 reminds us: "What does it profit a person if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?" Equal to the moral imperative is the devastating effect such wanton gun violence is having in many communities caught in the crossfire of black on black lethal use of guns.
They are 2016 Neros fiddling while our communities (of Rome) are in flame from Black men killing other Black men.
All it takes for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing.
I commend Ray Lewis for bringing this issue to the forefront of our national attention.