When black citizens in Montgomery, Ala. refused to ride the buses after the arrest of Rosa Parks, many people criticized the boycott as disruptive. They argued that it could potentially instigate violence. Nonetheless, whites believed it was appropriate for blacks to pay the full fare but sit only in the back of the bus. The Montgomery Bus Boycott did, in fact, launch the non-violent Civil Rights Movement as well as some more militant forms of protest. The present mayor of Somerville, Joseph Curtatone, would not have been on the wrong side of history in that conflict.
Back in 1965, whites objected to black citizens’ refusal to accept racial abuse. Now they are doing it again. For a number of irrelevant reasons, many oppose blacks’ objections to being killed by questionable police conduct. This is an issue even more serious than segregation on the bus. A substantial number of unarmed blacks have been gunned down by the police.
Greater Boston citizens and public officials should recognize the courage and wisdom of Mayor Curtatone. Despite objections, he continues to post the Black Lives Matter banner on city hall. He is sensitive to the problem of racial oppression and he refuses to accept the converse, that black lives are of no consequence. By supporting the simple principle of black lives matter he has not agreed to any violent protest that others might initiate.
The simple statement, “black lives matter” is irrefutable.
