July was a devastating month for police officers, with the high-profile assassinations of police in Dallas and Baton Rouge, as well as countless other shootings and violent attacks on men and women in blue.
So you wouldn’t expect a light-hearted dog picture in the San Francisco Police Officers Association Journal August newsletter with the words, “Maybe it’s time we all just sit back and tone down the rhetoric,” to be controversial.
But the cute image of black and yellow Labrador Retrievers wearing signs that say “Black Labs Matter” and “All Labs Matter,” has Black Lives Matter activists up in arms about the “inflammatory” and “insulting” picture, according to SFGate:
The dog photo “once again shows a severe lack of understanding,” said Sgt. Yulanda Williams, president of Officers for Justice, an organization within the San Francisco police force representing African American and other nonwhite officers. “It’s so inflammatory, and they still don’t get it. They still choose to inflame situations, and it’s just really insulting.” …
“I think that it’s clear that the POA continues to be tone-deaf around the real issues surrounding police accountability,” said Alicia Garza, an Oakland activist who co-founded the Black Lives Matter online forum in 2013 in response to a neighborhood watch volunteer’s killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida.
She said, “They characterize as rhetoric what is actually a really concerning problem of a lack of accountability, a lack of transparency and a lack of professionalism in that department.”
Anand Subramanian, executive director of the panel of judges investigating bias, also criticized the publication of the dog photo, saying, “It shows a severe lack of judgment and empathy for the real and justified pain and outrage that black communities are feeling.”
Sgt. Williams, who drew ire from the union when she testified before the judges’ panel about racism she experienced in the Police Department, said the photo demonstrated “blatant unwillingness to speak up for black lives.
“The POA is as good at sticking their foot in their mouth as Donald Trump,” she said. “So much for reform, that’s what that looks like. Reforms aren’t going to happen until you get them to concede that they’ve been doing things wrong, and this does not look like a concession or even an understanding or a desire to understand.”
Not only has the ridiculousness of the slogan “Black Lives Matter” has been exposed by cute puppies saying “Black Labs Matter,” but the reaction to it by activists dismissing the need to tone down the violent rhetoric that is encouraging attacks on police further discredits their cause.
Those who truly want to enact positive change encourage reforms need to change their detrimental strategy, because it is failing miserably. Sit back and tone it down…
What do you think about the “Black Labs Matter” image – helpful or harmful? Tell us in the comments below!
