Letter to Black Lives Matter and Dialogue with Socialists
No Condemnation of the Knee on Neck Toddler Incident
Dear BLM,
I am a Conservative ally of BLM and I applaud the good work you have done to raise the level of consciousness about racism through peaceful protests and encouraging courageous conversations.
I am concerned that the goodwill that you have from across the board and around the world, has and is being tarnished by thugs who are using BLM to attack businesses, burn buildings, attack police officers and also a minority of the thugs who are using the new police-free zones to commit crimes. I know they do not represent your peaceful movement. And I believe that you have been trying to respond to these activities that try to harm BLM. I read your op-ed (on Medium.com, 8th July) where you articulate the campaign of disinformation and conspiracies against your movement. I agree with the following comments you made:
“Domestic and international disinformation agents work to appear bigger and more relevant than they are. They misappropriate images of Black people and impersonate organizers and movement leaders in an attempt to cause chaos and harm to our communities. History shows us that organized disinformation threatens the public discourse and is a tried-and-true way to undermine the liberation work of champions for racial justice.”
What has been very disturbing is one such thug and child abuser, Isaiah Jackson, misused the name of BLM in order to replicate the knee-on-neck (and knee-on-back as per Tony Timpa in 2016) on the 2 yr old toddler. Why hasn’t there been a fierce condemnation of this incident? Agreed, there are multiple injustices taking place and one cannot campaign against all at the same time. But this incident used your good name to make a political point by abusing a white toddler. You will agree that other incidents of knee-on-neck brutality by police, post Floyd, have been widely reported in the US and UK because the knee-on-neck is symbolic of Floyd’s struggle and eventual woeful murder. I expected these subsequent incidents to be reported by the media and they have.
The toddler incident is also connected to Floyd but most media outlets have not addressed this, neither has BLM issued a statement to condemn this heinous abuse. What is it about this toddler incident that doesn’t merit public condemnation or publicity, but the other knee-on-neck incidents post Floyd, do? I am at a loss to explain the difference. One could argue that Jackson has been arrested and that other killers of Breonna Taylor are on the loose (someone with whom I had a dialogue with made this point) hence Taylor’s and Floyd’s cases would receive publicity. But in the case of Floyd, Chauvin was charged, and subsequent incidents of knee-on-neck brutalities by police were widely publicised even though the police officers in question were arrested. So that argument would not hold. What is it about the toddler incident that does not merit mass publicity and condemnation by friends who had been vocal about Floyd’s death and other injustices over the last few months?
Many thanks. Peace and power to you.
Your friend and ally
2. Short Dialogue with Socialists in the US
a) My Comments on the Toddler Incident
Hi, any thoughts on the simulation of the knee-on-neck action by Isaiah Jackson on a 2 year old toddler, who was in distress? Also the knee on the toddler’s back by another person. The caption in the photo was BLM MF. This guy is misusing the image of BLM…and to use a 2 yr old to do this is beyond humanity. Should there not be protests about this? Correct, the toddler did not die, but it was woefully abused by combining the actions of the pressure on the back (Tony Timpa 2016) and pressure on the neck (George Floyd 2020).
I have not seen any rage nor condemnation of this incident nor protests by groups who have protested against George Floyd’s murder by a similar method. I cannot understand the silence here.
b) Reply from ‘Caleb’ I have an easy explanation for you. They already arrested him, but they still haven’t arrested Breonna Taylor’s killers. Edit: they just arrested one of George Floyd’s killers for tax evasion, but not for killing George Floyd over $20.
Reply from ‘Rob’: Protest is for when the perpetrator is not held accountable. Thanks.
c) My Response: Thanks Caleb and Rob . Good points and it did make me think. But from what I understand, Derek Chauvin and other related officers were arrested and charged, but the protests still continued and spread to other countries….on behalf of Floyd. If this is wrong then I stand corrected. Even if people do not protest on behalf of the toddler, at least there should be vociferous condemnation of the act…which is misusing BLM by abusing a toddler? The silence is still puzzling.
d) Reply from ‘Aaron’: it’s not just about George Floyd. He was just the final spark that lit all the matches. Furthermore, there isn’t a systemic issue of blacks kneeling on toddlers necks. This is a one off incident that I’m sure is condemned by all the country.
Reply from ‘Caleb’: It is important to keep in mind that BLM is only a collection of various community organizers and the communities that subscribe to them being supported by loose bands of noncommittal supporters. They are not training anyone to kneel on the necks of toddlers. They aren’t an organized state police.
e) My response: Thanks again for your responses. Much appreciated. I understand the point made by Aaron that Floyd is the spark that lit the matches. I also take the point that blacks leaning on toddler’s necks is not systemic. The toddler in question who suffered, wouldn’t see it that way. What is the definition of ‘systemic’ in the context of police officers kneeling on necks? I agree that this is seen as a one-off incident and that it would be condemned by the whole country…but the problem is I have not seen that level of condemnation when I look at the mainstream media. Why should this specific incident be worthy of outright condemnation in the most resolute terms (if not through protests)? Because Isaiah Jackson used two things here. Firstly, the BLM name was misused, and as Caleb said, BLM doesn’t train people to kneel on the necks of toddlers. All the more reason why there should have been a massive uproar from BLM and other allies for the woeful misuse of its name which seeks justice for all. Secondly, the use of the kneeling on neck tactic on the toddler is an insult to George Floyd (who was described as peaceful and a gentle giant by his brother, Terrence)…and using his death to make a political point by making a toddler suffer is rancid at the least. Because this particular tactic used by Chauvin killed Floyd (and another tactic on pressing on the back used against Tony Timpa), that lit he match…then Isaiah Jackson’s stunt which used the same tactics, and linked them with BLM, should have caused outcry among the very people who took to the streets. But as I said, there is relative silence from these groups. And they would seem to condemn this incident only reactively rather than proactively. The toddler’s white privilege did not help, and it suffered.
Another reason for the need for a public proactive condemnation by BLM and its allies is because of actions by many police officers who joined the BLM protesters and also took the knee in support of racial justice. These officers condemned Chauvin and they condemn the minority of officers who are racist and kill innocent civilians. Chauvin et al do not represent the majority of police officers, which is a point well made by officers who took the knee. Likewise, Muslims would publicly condemn the actions of a minority of Muslims who engage in terrorism. So it is only right that BLM and its allies make a public statement to fiercely condemn the actions of Jackson. The impression I am getting is that the toddler’s life doesn’t matter enough for there to be a proactive mass condemnation.
Another good point that Caleb made in the first comment is that Jackson was arrested but Breonna’s killers were not. This is true. And all of us would support Jackson being arrested by the police, and we expect police to find and arrest Breonna’s killers. Hence this is an indirect argument not to defund the police but to reform. As has been gleaned from Caleb’s comment, we expect the police to do their jobs, so defunding them and abolishing the police force (one activist, Linda Sarsour said ALL police officers should be arrested) will make it more difficult to arrest criminals. Many Thanks, as always I appreciate your thoughts.
f) Reply from ‘Carla’: Maybe the issue is as simple as the fact that there is soooooo much crap going on simultaneously that you can’t possibly keep up! I for one have no idea who Isiah Jackson is or what you are talking about and it’s not like I dont pay attention to the news. When people become overwhelmed by events they have a habit of narrowing their focus so as to concentrate on the stuff right in front of their faces. I live in Seattle and Trump sent his mercenaries our way to stir up trouble so you bet my focus has shifted to what’s going on in my own backyard. That by NO MEANS implies that I don’t care about what is going on in Portland or the incident you are alluding to. Also I think it is pretty disingenuous to accuse BLM of implying that this “toddler’s life doesn’t matter enough” cuz no official statement has been released addressing it. That does not make them hypocrites; everything in life is not an “either/or” situation! You are doing the equivalent of chastising someone for participating in a walk-a-thon to raise money for Brain Cancer as proof they don’t give a sh*t about Breast Cancer, ALS, or the Blind!
g) My response: Many thanks Carla for taking the time to reply and help me make sense of something that appears very peculiar to me. The fact that you have no idea who Isaiah Jackson is even though you pay attention to the news is precisely the point I am making. Why isn’t this being reported by main news outlets? I completely understand your point about there being a myriad of problems and challenges people face at the same time, hence people would narrow their focus on issues that they are directly affected by. And you emphasise the point that the focus on one issue does not negate concern for other issues. And a good analogy you drew is that if one campaigns for a brain cancer charity, it doesn’t mean you don’t give a damn about other cancers. I agree with this analogy. This is why I have criticised the critics of BLM who charge the organisation with being one sided and ignore other injustices. I believe that BLM is not isolationist, they care about most injustices in the world regardless of colour or creed, but that addressing racism against blacks is a starting point. That is why everyone should be allies of BLM.
Coming back to the point of the toddler and the relative silence from organisations and protesters, including BLM. You stated that my criticism of BLM’s silence on this matter because the toddler’s life did not matter enough, was disingenuous because BLM did not release an official statement on this matter. Again, this is precisely my point. Why didn’t they come out with a statement? Their good name was misused by Isaiah Jackson when he performed the knee-on-the-neck action on the crying toddler, coupled with pressure on it’s back (a copy of what was done by police on Tony Timpa, who died later from the injury in 2016). The toddler received a double dose of brutality in one go in the name of ‘BLM NOW MF’. That is why I reiterate the point I made previously that BLM should have come out in vociferous condemnation of this child abuse in the same way many police officers condemned the actions of Chauvin, and joined the protesters or took the knee. And in the same way Muslim communities would condemn the actions of a minority that inflicts terrorism in the name of Islam.
Caleb made an interesting point in his first response, where he implied that Isaiah was arrested, hence protests and public condemnation were not warranted. If protesters pick and choose injustice, that’s fine and one cannot expect to protest about every single injustice around the world. But at least a public condemnation can be expected. People may be asking why am I so fixated about the knee-on-the-neck and knee-on-the-back actions against the frightened toddler? Aaron made the point that the Floyd incident was the final spark that lit the matches, which triggered multiple protests. Again, it is precisely because of this incendiary incident against Floyd, that further police acts on knee-on-the-neck of suspects were reported by the media widely which led to arrests of some of these officers in the US and UK and worldwide condemnation. Floyd’s murder is the trigger for the protests and also media highlights of further knee-on-the neck brutality by police post Floyd’s death. That is why the New York Times even reported a knee-on-the-neck incident of a police officer on a suspect in the UK. Because these knee-on-neck actions by police are so symbolic of Floyd’s situation that they merit reporting by the media even of the incidents are across the pond. They are all connected to Floyd’s knee-on-neck brutality, which is the trigger point. That is why you would have heard of these incidents post Floyd even though you may be facing Trump’s henchmen or something else closer to home.
Now one could argue that the knee-on-neck (and knee-on-back) abuse against the frightened toddler is far worse than the reported incidents of police doing the same thing on suspects post Floyd’s death. Why far worse? Because an innocent child is being abused, the BLM name has been misused, and the criminal is also misusing Floyd’s death for his twisted philosophy. CNN, the BBC, CBNC, Al Jazeera, New York Times made no mention of this incident as far as I am aware, but Fox News, New York Post, Washington Post did. The latter set of media outlets may be regarded as being more on the political right. But this should not be about left or right. It is about right and wrong. When I looked at the Facebook posts of campaigners, commentators and organisations (who were vocal during the protests) during the last few days after the toddler incident, there is no mention of this heinous act of child abuse. One commentator is enjoying herself in Ibiza, another commentator talked about the mental fitness of Kayne West, another commentator celebrated the release of Dennis Perry after 20 years of wrongful incarceration, yet another well known activist in the US had the audacity to put up a poster from the New York police department about a missing Muslim woman…after campaigning to defund the police and arrest ALL officers. The mind boggles.
Thanks again for all of your responses. I do take them seriously. We are on different parts of the political spectrum; so we may not be comrades but I see us as friends and I value the courageous conversations we are having. However, I do welcome further thoughts.
End of Dialogue.
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Disclaimer: The views expressed are mine only and do not belong to the company I work for or the political party I belong to.
Author Biography
Hasan Ali Imam was born in Bangladesh in 1972 and brought up in the UK. He has engaged in respectful debate and dialogue with those which disagree with him, which culminated in his candidacy for the British Parliament in 2005. He continues to be involved with the UK Conservative Party in his spare time whilst working for a multinational corporation. Hasan has also been involved with the UK Government’s PREVENT counter terrorism strategy as a trainer to public servants on how to prevent young people from venturing into extremism. He also draws on his own experience of attempted recruitment by extremist groups in the 1990s. Hasan has authored three books.
Firstly, ‘United States of Anger — Why Linda Sarsour’s Rage and Far Left Violence Cannot Move Mountains.’ This book is a response to Linda Sarsour (an American Palestinian Socialist activist), and her far left compatriots who supported the violence and rampage that took hold in the US after the tragic killing of George Floyd.
Secondly, ‘BAME — Breaking Through Barriers.’ This book deals with the race space in the UK. It responds to critics who state that ethnic minorities have not progressed due to institutional racism. He tackles the issue head on and invites critics to dialogue and debate. This book was praised by the British Government.
Thirdly, ‘Aisha and Fatima — Ladies of Heavan. A Sunni Response to Shiaism.’ This is specific to the main Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia. The book captures dialogues that Hasan (a Sunni) had with Shia Muslims over the last 20 years.
A fourth book project is under way for publication in 2023, entitled, ‘Why the Far Right are Far Wrong.’ Yes, you guessed it. It includes responses to the Far Right and dialogue with some of its members.
Hasan has also written an article on ‘Medium.com’ to challenge the anti-vaccine narrative from his own Conservative side, including Dr. Simone Gold in the US, and has invited dialogue and debate with anti-vaxxers. He has also engaged in dialogue with and Israeli Jew and an anti-Israeli Muslim on the State of Israel and the importance of Jews, Christians and Muslims to unite under the Abrahamic brotherhood.
