It is not the best of times; it is definitely the worst of times.
Within a span of 11 days, two men were murdered in two midwestern states. One man was murdered in cold blood by a vigilante who used the registry to choose his victim. The other was murdered by the police. Both men killed has a past. One was a twice convicted sex offender, the other had nine convictions over a 10 year span, including an armed robbery where the man had held a young woman at gunpoint. Both had served more than one stint behind bars, served their sentences, and were freed. Both were struggling to rebuild their lives. One did a stint as a preacher, the other pleading with younger generations to make good choices and to stop gun violence.
Both men are dead, yet we cheer one murder while condemning the other.
A recent heeadline involved a
business owner on the registry stepping down from his job after asking his employees to keep political activism (including BLM activism) out of the workplace. Black Lives Matter activists and "Cancel Culture" pressure people to accept their movement under penaly of protests or other negative actions, and BLM is a very polarizing movement, so it is not surprising some businesses would rather stay neutral. The nesws media decided to latch on to the business owner's sex offense conviction from 24 years ago for an offense that happened when the business owner was only 15.
Yet these same media outlets make little to no mention of George Floyd's past (except extreme right-wing media outlets with their own agendas).
Furthermore, many of the same people supporting BLM took to attacking the business owner, hurling insults and saying things like "sex offender lives don't matter."
If you support Black Lives Matter but don't believe someone on the public registry deserves a second chance and the same rights you are marching for, then you are a hypocrite and your words ring hollow.
I'm not condemning anyone who served time for any offense. I'm in no position to pass judgment of any of them. But three people I alluded to in this blog post have served time. I have stated for years that I support everyone who wants to become productive members of society. No one who contacts OnceFallen.com for support are turned away, even if they committed more than one offense. Why? Because every person who turns away from a life of crime is a success, no matter whatr they've done. I buy Dave's Killer Bread because
the founder turned his life around after a 15 year stint in prison (not for a sex offense, BTW). In the eyes of many, it is okay to support the rehabilitation of Dave the breadmaker or march for Justice for George Floyd because their past only consisted of a violent offense, but don't support a business belonging to a Registered Person. That is hypocrisy.
The man who owns the coffee shop chain in Washington did not bring up his past until pressured for good reason; people simply hate success stories of people turning their lives around if the person is a Registered Citizen. People actively attack Registered Persons. Registered Persons HAVE to hide their stories to be given a second chance in society. Yet, a murderer, an armed robber, or a gangbanger can get a second chance and people will march if that person is murdered.
The latest slogan is "Not All Lives Matter Until Black Lives Matter." Well, the same holds true for the nearly one million Registered Citizens, some of whom also happen to be black. Not All Lives Matter Until REGISTERED Lives Matter.
