Dear Governor Christie,
During last week’s fourth Republican Presidential Debate, you rightfully criticized Hillary Clinton for her proud declaration claiming Republicans are the enemy by which she would be most proud to be judged. You said that as opposed to her role of divider, you claimed you would be a unifier, but on the same day you also emphatically announced you will not meet with anyone from Black Lives Matter. I think you see the issue I’m having here, and I ask you to reconsider your stance.
Now I understand your reasoning: you do not want give people who chant about and promote the murder of cops the time of day (and I’m going to stop here for a second to make it clear that I am giving Christie the benefit of the doubt and accepting that that is his reasoning and this isn’t really just a political ploy to win over the hundreds of thousands of police officers and their unions, as well as their staunch police supporters. And I can easily give that benefit here because I’m also writing here in a universe where Christie actually reads this letter). But it doesn’t have to be police vs. Black Lives Matter (BLM). There doesn’t have to be a demon in this struggle. In fact, I’m pretty sure it isn’t that way, but by providing such a powerful and public voice in this rift, you are if not drawing the official line in the sand, then you are at the very least deepening the divide between the police and those supportive of them and the Black Lives Matter movement and those sympathetic to their cause. And that’s not only not in the spirit of unifying, it’s dangerous.
As long as people who disagree with each other don’t speak to one another, then the only voices we hear are like-minded ones that push us further into our corners and rile us up all the more. Just look at what has happened in our colleges and universities. Students are fed one side of a narrative and then fed it again and again until they won’t even hear the other side. When University of Missouri students asked the now-former University President Tim Wolfe what he thought oppression was, they didn’t even allow him a chance to respond before deciding he doesn’t understand. They have the audacity to ask him if he wants to google it first. And then when he tries to answer, they’re quick to cut him off to express their instant indignation at his opening line. When a journalist tried to document the protests at the Missouri campus, students, led by faculty, invoked their First Amendment right to keep the press away from them, and when the journalist tried to explain that the First Amendment protects his right to be there as well as theirs, the students, again led by faculty, only shouted over the him to drown it out and physically forced him back with glee. In Yale, a recent panel on free speech was protested by those who only want to protect safe speech. The panel was interrupted by protesters who wanted their voice to be heard the loudest and panel attendees were spat on as they exited. And a recent national survey on free speech by the Buckley Program found that half of the under-grad students polled feel intimidated to express views that differ from their professors and fellow students. And when you add all this up, you get what happened last Thursday at Dartmouth College, where a group of BLM protesters took to the library, but when white students just went on with their studying, the protesters couldn’t handle that not everyone was right there with them and they assaulted and cursed at the unmoved library-goers for their “white comfort.” This is the danger of unchecked groupthink, and if you do not like it, Governor Christie, then the worst thing you could do is stay on your side of the line and leave bad enough alone.
So challenge them on their beliefs, Governor. Make them understand that the police force is not an institution of racism. Allow that there are those who wear the uniform that do not do it, or anyone justice, but for every such case there are many and many more who do their best to preserve the dignity of the badge and the lives of every American of all backgrounds. Show them that when you say All Lives Matter, that black lives are a part of that. And give them the opportunity to show that while some have taken the Black Lives Matter movement to a wrong place, that they are not all there, and when they say Black Lives Matter, it doesn’t mean that white lives and blue lives don’t.
So just engage, Governor. Come to an understanding that there are bad seeds undermining each side, but those seeds are a splintered minority. And come together because the best way to stomp out those dangerous and unwanted offshoots is with a strong, unified group where an unwanted weed cannot take root. Open with the joint proclamation that Black Lives Matter, All Lives Matter. Do it for the sake of unity. It may not solve racism, it may not unite us all- it probably won’t, but it could start something. And if it doesn’t... well, at least you gave it the old college try.
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