President Barack Obama didn’t really say, “If it’s good enough for Islamic State, it’s good enough for Black Lives Matter.” At least not yet. But I’m thinking of writing his next speech for him, and that would be the centerpiece.
Wasn’t it wonderful to hear President Obama’s calm and dignified words about Muslims and Christians during his press conference about the Paris attacks? In case you missed it, he said:
“We don’t kill people because they’re different from us. That’s what separates us from them. And we don’t feed that kind of notion that somehow Christians and Muslims are at war and if we want to be successful defeating ISIL, that’s a good place to start, by not promoting that kind of ideology, that kind of attitude.”
(By the way, why is he the only one that calls them "ISIL?")
U.S President Barack Obama speaks to the media during his closing press conference on day two of the G20 Turkey Leaders Summit on November 16, 2015 in Antalya, Turkey. World leaders will use the summit to discuss issues including, climate change, the global economy, the refugee crisis and terrorism. The two day summit takes place in the wake of the massive terrorist attack in Paris which killed more than 120 people. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
I was thrilled to hear him taking the high road and advocating for peace between Muslims and Christians. And then I started thinking. If he’s a high road kind of guy, and advocates for peace, he probably wants to send the same message to Black Lives Matter. I’ve taken the liberty of writing that part of his speech for him, taking a page from his press conference.
“We don’t kill police officers because they’re different from us and have power we don’t have. That’s what separates us from killers. And we don’t feed that kind of notion that somehow blacks and whites are at war. And if we want to be successful defeating racism, that’s a good place to start, by not promoting that kind of ideology, that kind of attitude.”
In speaking about the particular virulence of Islamic State, President Obama said:
“What is unique about ISIL is the ability to control territory, which then allows them to attract additional recruits and the greater effectiveness that they have on social media and their ability to use that to not only attract recruits to fight in Syria but also potentially to carry out attacks in the homeland and in Europe and other parts of the world.”
I would definitely include the above sentiment as well in the speech I’m writing for POTUS, as follows:
“What is unique about Black Lives Matter is the ability to control whether someone gets fired from their job, which then allows them to attract additional protesters and the greater effectiveness that they have on social media and their ability to use that to not only attract protesters to fight against misuse of power in law enforcement but also potentially to carry out offensives in academia and in corporate America and in everyday Americans’ lives."
And, finally, I would be sure to convey one of his most passionate points:
“To anyone that would equate the terrible actions that took place in Paris with the views of Islam, those kinds of stereotypes are counterproductive, they’re wrong.”
My version for his Black Lives Matter speech would read:
“To anyone that would equate the terrible actions committed by a few police officers with the actions of all police officers, those kinds of stereotypes are counterproductive, they’re wrong.”
By the end of next speech, we’ll all be singing Kumbaya. But then, whatever will we do to keep society in feverish conflict? I know! Convince women that the fact of safe legal abortions is threatened and that simple birth control is beyond their means. Oh, wait.
Maybe I need to write a speech about how 21st Century Women rise above feverish conflict. But then we’ll have to invent something like spaces safe from free speech. Oh, wait.
Donna Carol Voss is an author, blogger, speaker, and mom. A Berkeley grad, a former atheist then pagan, she is now a Mormon on purpose and an original thinker on 21st century living, especially 21st century women. Her memoir, “One of Everything,” traces the path through one of everything she took to get here. www.donnacarolvoss.com
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