Why These African American Leaders Reject the Left’s Victim Narrative

The reality of racism in America has led to cries for justice across the nation, as the May 25 death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis sparked peaceful protests as well as violence and looting.

But conservative African American leaders say they’re concerned that the message being sent to the nation’s black community is one of victimhood.

“In the community right now, they are teaching the children to be victims,” said Casper Stockham, an author, speaker, and radio show host. “They are teaching them that police are bad and if you are out there, walking down the street, you are going to get shot by a cop.”

Stockham’s concerns were echoed by three other African American conservative activists on the Centennial Institute’s webinar Thursday titled, “The Sin of Racism and America’s Promise of Equality.”

CJ Pearson, the youngest voice on the webinar at age 17, spoke pointedly about his disgust with the far left’s efforts to politicize the death of Floyd and use tragedy to further its own agenda.

“Let’s just be frank about it. Let’s call it disgusting because that is exactly what it is,” said Pearson, founder and president of the nonprofit Last Hope USA, which promotes civics education, adding, “You have Antifa going into black communities and burning those communities to the ground. That is an issue. They are using his death to do that.”

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