Civil rights leader Bob Woodson: The left 'abandoned all pretense' of fight for social justice
Lower-income African-American communities are 'collateral damage,' he says
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Robert Woodson, a leader in the 1960s civil rights movement, told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Monday that the left and many Democrats have exposed themselves as uninterested in the social justice and racial equality they claim to support publicly.
Woodson said there has been a trend in that direction "for years," adding that lower-income African-American communities have become "collateral damage" as the far left moves to deconstruct various public institutions including policing.
"The left has abandoned all pretense of fighting for social justice. Lower-income Blacks are just collateral damage for their efforts to demean and destroy these civic institutions in this country. Not only that, but the children, in 75 percent of these murders, no one is ever arrested, so that means in these cities where these murders are occurring and also as you say, the police are vilified," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Black Lives Matter is not answering the question that if racism were the single culprit, why are Black children and Black people being destroyed and institutions run by their own people? The goal of the civil rights movement was to put Black folks in position so they could improve the lives of their own people -- but where are the civil rights leaders in the Black caucus when statues of Frederick Douglass are being torn down?" he said, pointing to left-wing activists ripping the statue of the freed slave-turned-presidential adviser off its pedestal in Rochester, N.Y., over the weekend.
"Obviously, the left has abandoned all pretense of being fighting for social justice for Blacks. This is an assault on this nation [and is about] promoting anarchy. If they want a police free state, they should move to Mexico..."
He added that Virginia's left wing was making things worse in that regard, after state Senate Democrats released a list of policing reforms they sought to implement, including "defelonizing" assaults on police officers, reverting the crime to a misdemeanor. The Democrats retook control of the state legislature by a slim margin last year.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"In Virginia legislature, for instance, they're trying to reduce assault on a police officer to a misdemeanor -- Can you imagine if they said the same thing about Blacks -- if we want to reduce assault on Blacks to a misdemeanor, what the outcry would be?"
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In a column in the Fort Hunt Herald, state Senate Subcommittee on Police Reform Chairman Scott Surovell, a Democrat, defended the plan, saying Virginia made assault on law enforcement officers a felony only recently -- in 1997.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Surovell wrote that he has seen charges filed for infractions including "slapping an officer's wrist" during a traffic stop and bumping into a patrolman -- adding that suspects who cause serious injuries to police officers could still be charged with a felony offense either way.