Hey protesters: What have you accomplished exactly?

Every night on my show, my goal is to help listeners become better consumers of news and a big way to do that is to encourage us to fact check everything. Whether you hear something on the radio or read something in a newspaper or see something on TV, you need to get into the habit of fact checking what you’re being told, so that you can get the full story. But it’s also important to fact check the narrative behind popular movements, such as what you’re hearing from the protesters taking to the streets of Seattle.

Something I’d like us all to start fact checking is this claim that the protesters make. They say they believe that black lives matter, implying that they’re the only ones who think that (you and I, to them, don’t believe black lives matter).

Specifically to the protesters I ask this: if black lives matter to them, can any of you point to anything you’ve done to prove it in any meaningful way? What accomplishments have you made? What policy prescriptions have you helped to pass? What prescriptions have you even offered?

Yeah, we get it: capitalism is apparently a tool of white supremacy, you hate capitalism and big business (which you ironically proclaim on Facebook and Twitter) but what have you actually done to fix the ills of society, in your view? Chanted? Blocked traffic? Made a sign? Threw a rock or knife at a cop? Vandalized businesses? Stop a parent from buying a Christmas gift for their son or daughter at a mall? That’s all well and good, you’ll get some press but what have you actually accomplished?*

Part of the reason these folks are so ineffective is the story they’re telling is just not truthful. It may be based on a perception or a feeling (both of which should be addressed), but it’s certainly not based on facts.

They could push a narrative that in some parts of the country, black lives are not treated the same as white lives – I do believe that. They could push a narrative that due to some racist beliefs, black people are viewed with more suspicion that white people – I believe that happens. They can make any number of reasonable claims that are worth talking about and fixing. But instead, they go to hyperbole, pushing a phony and demonstrably false claim that cops are systematically murdering black people based on sheer racism. And they choose to push refuted claims – especially in the narrative behind Michael Brown – to make their case. Talk about flawed.

These protesters say there’s this huge problem of cops killing black people in this country (not just killing but murdering black people). They say it’s open season on black Americans and it’s been this way for a while. Implicitly, this means they’ve been unable to fix anything because it keeps on happening. You’re bringing attention to the issue? Arguably. Movements do more than bring attention to issues; they offer solutions. What win can these protesters claim?

Now, it’s a bit unfair of me to ask because they won’t have any wins, as there is no epidemic of black people being murderer in this country by cops. At least none they can make any statistical case for, though they try by citing a study called Operation Ghetto Storm, an incomplete and questionable study to begin with. (This doesn’t mean there aren’t racist cops – there are racists in every industry and every job; unfortunately racists are still out there and we should weed them out.)

Now, me telling you this is why many of these protesters dislike me (they hate being questioned and they try to intimidate those who do). But don’t let them intimidate – you should fact check everything.

*Don’t let them take credit for body cameras, as some may. This was well in the works before the latest iteration of the anti-police movement.