Those who declared “Black lives matter,” might have avoided some of the reactionary foolishness that followed if they had ended that sentence with “too.” Forget it should not be necessary, that it should be obvious the word is implied. Some don’t understand the intended implication and are put off by imagined ones; those are the innocently ignorant. There are also the willfully ignorant who do understand but use the absence of the word as a means to feign offense. So, those who clearly see a society in need of being reminded that all lives matter – including black ones – are now being told they are myopic.

Added to this is the the false narrative that the movement is misguided because of its focus on black lives taken by police officers instead of those taken by black civilians. It is a storyline coming not only from those one might expect, but also from those one might not.

An example close to home demonstrates the expected. When the jurors in the trial of a Baltimore officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray deadlocked two weeks ago, and there was some fear of a replay of the rioting that took place at the time of Gray’s death, the Republican governor of Maryland took to the airways to say “You know, I’ve expressed my concern that we have a lot of people out there expressing their concern and their frustration over the tragic death of Freddie gray. But, you know, where is the uproar from the community? Where are the people protesting the 330 people that have been murdered.”

What was not expected were friends and family members expressing sentiments similar to those of the governor. One asked “Who are they trying to convince,” suggesting the police and elected officials are the wrong targets of the protesters, that the correct marks are the black youths who prey on the communities in which they live; at the very least (the thinking goes), police and politicians should not be the sole or primary targets of protesters.

Of course, this line of reasoning presupposes a fallacy, as if it is logical to suppose an act has not been performed if it has not been directly observed. When confronted by Governor Larry Hogan’s evident ignorance of or blindness to facts, Baltimore City Councilman Brandon Scott tweeted a photo of some of that city’s black citizens marching with signs all reading “We must stop killing each other.” Councilman Scott added “People in Baltimore work everyday to deal with violence here.” There have been similar demonstrations and efforts in communities across the country, many of which predate Hogan’s tenure and the Black Lives Matter movement.

The danger of Governor Hogan’s statement is not only the false narrative it advances, it is also the false equivalency it promotes, the idea there should be equal concern about police violence and criminal violence. Any doubt about the faultiness of such an assumption may be dispelled by considering a simple question: Should people hired and sworn to serve and protect the public be held to the same standards as gang members and thugs? Rational thinkers will not find it difficult to answer “No.” They also will understand the meaning of leverage. They know Johnny down the block with the gun may not feel answerable to them or to placard-carrying protesters. Johnny may not even feel answerable to a parent or guardian who’s done everything possible, as evidenced by the successes of Johnny’s older sister and younger brother reared in the same household with the same values. When counseling, mentoring, positive role- modeling, love and all else fails, and Johnny becomes a demonstrable danger to his community, his community should be able to turn for help to those charged with providing it.

This includes the police – who are answerable to you. Your vote elected the mayor who appointed your police commissioner. Your tax dollars pay all their salaries. Most importantly, as noted earlier, they have sworn oaths to uphold the law and the public’s safety. Too many have rendered those oaths meaningless. When a police force has so damaged its relationship with the community it is supposed to serve, it is not unthinkable that a surfeit of murders will occur or that most will remain unsolved. When added to this volatility are the ongoing crimes (including torture, rape and murder) committed by police against the citizenry, it is no wonder frustrated people of goodwill will march through their streets to police stations and city halls, to shopping malls and busy highways to shine a spotlight on what should be visible without one. They want others to be as clear-eyed as they, others who do not or pretend not to see that black lives matter, too.