Black Lives Matter Leader Says Black People Do Not Trust Politicians
Black Lives Matter activist Hawk Newsome says the police need to come up with a different method to reduce crime. Depressed with the existing state of American politics as far as the African-American community is concerned, he calls for defunding the country's police department.
In an interview on Fox News Sunday, Newsome accused both parties of failing black people in the United States by focusing more on corporations rather than catering to people's problems and not adopting the right method when it comes to reducing crime. Newsome said black people do not politicians, regardless of whether they are Democrats or Republicans.
Aside from that, Newsome said black people do not appreciate the government overstepping its bounds, adding that policing is an example of this. He also criticized the current view that recommends extra policing to quell crimes, suggesting that the country should treat crimes as a public health crisis while trying to figure out why people tend to commit crimes.
Newsome said people are poor, undereducated, and to make things worse, the American system of government leaves them irritable. To minimize crime, he says the government needs to give people jobs and make them employable. Talking to Fox News' Martha MacCallum earlier this week, Newsome said if America fails to give them what they need, then they will burn the system and replace it.
Donald Trump described this as treason. Newsome, on the other hand, says he is not promoting violence nor telling people to go out and hurt other people. He said people tend to lash out only when they feel they have no other option.
Host Chris Wallace cited different approaches to promoting progress, referring to the by any means necessary philosophy of Malcolm X versus Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s concept of working within the system. Newsome described King as a brilliant strategist, who was media-savvy while accusing the current civil rights movement's elders of being influenced by the Democratic establishment.
Newsome said both Obama, as well as Trump administration, failed black people by supporting Wells Fargo and other financial institutions that have a history of discrimination. He also pointed out that a considerable number of white people have participated in the demonstrations alongside the black community.
The government deems them radicals rather than trying to understand why they have joined the fight, adding that the government has failed the people. Newsome says Democrats and Republicans have failed the black community.