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Councilman Herring:
I read your editorial published
in the Daily Bulletin, entitled "Black Lives Matter, Mr. Mattucci".
I must say that I found the
tone and the conclusions of this editorial quite surprising and striking for
their serious disregard for facts and evidence.
You claim that "systemic racism that has existed in Torrance
since its corporation in 1921."
Would
you please explain which systems in the city of Torrance exhibit this racism,
and what is your proof of this racism?
Your
article did not cite anything specific. In fact, in a city council meeting in
2018, you declared that Torrance could not be a racist city, since the
residents had elected you to the city council, and you were the highest
vote-getter in the 2016 City Council election.
You
assert that "Black Lives Matter is not a terrorist group." However,
Black Lives Matter spokesman and activists have talked about taking land from
white people in public forums. One of the leaders in New York City stated the
following: "If this country doesn't give us what we want, then we will
burn down this system and replace it." They have claimed that cities with
a multi-ethnic heritage like Carson were founded "white supremacy",
and in fact I recall that members of Black Lives Matter call you yourself a
white supremacist. They have rallied around and then toppled monuments and
statues throughout the United States, including memorials for African-American
soldiers who fought for their own freedom and their fellow countrymen during the
American Civil War. A number of times, BLM protesters have chanted
"Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon." These phrases were directed
at police officers. These are violent statements, implying perverse threats
against police officers.
BLM
protests have erupted into riots in many cities across the United States. They
have destroyed businesses, homes, attacked police precincts. They have even
attacked and murdered other black lives. They have repeatedly intimidated
elected officials by disrupting public meetings and preventing other citizens
from being heard in these public meetings. I personally have been
assaulted and my life threatened by
these activists. I must remind you that many of the businesses destroyed in
these riots were owned by African-Americans.
Violence,
acts of intimidation, destruction of property — are not these behaviors
examples of domestic terrorism?
Mr.
Herring, you stated the following in your editorial:
"Mr.
Mattucci, when we say that Black lives matter, we are not saying that other
lives do not matter."
"We
are saying that all lives cannot matter until Black lives matter and receive
that same justice."
lives matter because they are all endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights. The notion that a life matters less because of skin color
is antithetical to everything that the United States is founded on. The notion
that other lives cannot matter until the lives of one segment of the population
matter by receiving the "same justice" is in fact one of the most
unjust, racist formulations I have ever read. Justice cannot be a matter of
skin color. Justice must be a matter of actions and merits. The very notion
that a segment of the population based on skin color has been denied justice
because of their skin color requires more rigorous defense than you have
provided.
What
is your basis for the assertion that black lives are not receiving the same
justice as everyone else?
Are
you implying that Asian-American lives, which are most often harmed and
harassed by black lives, do not matter?
Are
you aware that the massive homicide rate in black communities is a result of
black-on-black crime?
Are
you aware that many black lives are lost because of abortion, and that Planned
Parenthood, founded by an embittered racist named Margaret Sanger, deliberately
targeted black communities for extermination via abortion?
Are
you aware that in predominantly Democrat-run urban areas, most of the black
homicides occur?
Herring, I have no reason not to take your statements seriously. Precisely for
that reason, I found many of your formulations in your editorial to be
surprising if not disturbing for their lack of evidence, intellectual rigor,
and seriousness. I submit to you that when
black lives matter to other black lives, then the import of the larger
statement "Black lives matter" will have more integrity. Furthermore, your claim that Torrance is systemically racist is, if I may be so bold, systemically flawed. By what metric can you claim that the city of Torrance is racist?
respond to the questions which I have provided in bold letters above. As a
retired city councilman, a pastor, and a retired military official, your
reputation and the gravity of your assertions demand a response to the
questions I have provided. You all but libeled the city of Torrance and its
residents, and such brazen assertions must be challenged.