Letter to the editor: Trump and Black Lives Matter

Black lives absolutely matter. So do police lives. So do all lives lost (17?) in the George Floyd riots.

Logic tells us any interracial killing isn’t automatically racist. The same applies to cops killing unarmed suspects. Court-worthy proof or confession of racial bias is needed prior to making that claim. While systemic racism involving cops killing unarmed blacks is unproven, specific verifiable cases should be dealt with severely. Even then, the rarity of such acts doesn’t warrant the violence, destruction and further fatalities seen in recent riots.

Instead of criminal unrest, let’s do something practical. Pass an unarmed suspect act for monsters like Floyd’s killers. Include same-day officer suspension, immediate FBI engagement, a hyperfast-tracked case and charges within days if video is irrefutable. Let law address what violence never will.

Take the lead, President Trump. In likely your final year, forget political rallies. Go out as the politician who black lives mattered more to than any president since Lincoln. You, not Barack Obama, brought opportunity zones to minority neighborhoods. You restored STEM funding that had lapsed for historically black colleges and universities. You achieved prison reform largely benefiting blacks. You support school choice. You used deregulation to shrink black unemployment to record lows.

Go further. Demand a federal law similar to what’s outlined above. Shame the Pelosis and McConnells of elite Washington for not having done so already.

To Black Lives Matter, either wake up or shut up. Keep voting 9-to-1 for a party that only wants you as victims, or support a president demonstrably working to improve black lives.

Robert Szypulski

Penn Township, Westmoreland County