Pass the Tactical Single Launcher Please

So what exactly is a 40 mm LMT tactical single launcher and an hk mr556a1 and suppressor?

And why do police need to have them when they face off against protesters? True, these protesters come heavily armed, what with iPhones, face masks, bottled water and more. Some even carry those potentially lethal signs.

For clarification purposes, the manufacturer, Defense Technology, notes that a 40 mm LMT tactical single launcher is a “tactical single shot launcher that will fire standard 40mm less lethal ammunition, up to 4.8 inches in cartridge length.”

And the hk mr556a1 and suppressor? Defense Technology explains the weapon is equipped with a “cutting edge next generation of suppressor technology from Operators Suppressor Systems Inc. (OSS). It is coupled with HK’s unique new Modular Rail System (MRS) to provide the shooter with a high performance integrated weapon system.”

Translated, the two weapons are cutting edge for law enforcement or the military to stop civil unrest. Translate that into beat back the protesters, at any cost. Fits right in with the fearless leader’s plan to “dominate and reclaim the streets” and maybe to even deploy tanks. He’ll blast those water bottles to Smitherines, wherever that is. And while he’s at it, he’ll get rid of the pesky Constitution and its flowery words about the right to assemble.

And for the next act, the fearless leader may bring you “Son of Tiananmen.” He loves those big tanks with those really, really long cannons.

Black Lives Matter. The three words inflame many white people who react with righteous anger that “all lives matter.” Well, all lives do matter but the current dialogue is about unarmed African Americans who are killed by police. It isn’t about unarmed white people being shot by African American police.

I haven’t heard much talk lately about African American privilege. I don’t know that white people fear jogging in their neighborhoods or driving down a street at night or simply taking a late night stroll. If white people routinely felt such fear than I’d be all for White Lives Matter. But it just isn’t so.

Regarding Black Lives Matter, it’s explained by the metaphor involving five children, one African American and four white. The African American kid gets a pretty bad cut on his hand. He needs a band aid. Is it necessary to provide band aids to the kids who aren’t bleeding? No.

And then there are those who fear the Black Lives Matter movement will get rid of the police and that people will have to call the Boy Scouts to catch the bad guys. Come on, let’s get real. Nobody but a person with his head in the sand would say that law enforcement is not necessary.

What many people are saying is that the system needs to change so that police can be more easily prosecuted for unnecessary violence and that police budgets should be reduced and more funds be funneled toward education, health care and housing.

Must it be repeated again that there are many well-meaning police and relatively few killer cops. That’s like saying that the flu kills just as many people as COVID 19, so what’s the big deal made about the pandemic. Some of my best friends are police. It’s not so much the people but the way the system looks the other way too often when it comes to police violence while the police culture, spell that the “blue wall,” does not encourage police to rat on other police, to put it mildly.

And while we’re at it, let’s talk a little about “microagressions.” I only recently became acquainted with the term. You know what they are. Those benign, innocent, off-handed comments that people use as petards to create damage with the least amount of blood. Microagressions are very handy to put down people for their race, gender or sexual orientation. Any malice is easily avoided with the simple words “I didn’t mean it” or “oh it is only a joke” or even that ever popular retort, “don’t be so sensitive.” It isn’t benign if you’re the target of such expressions of prejudice.

Microagressions are defined as “everyday verbal, nonverbal and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership.”

A common microagressions is “There is only one race, the human race;” or when a white person waits to ride the next elevator when a person of color is on it; or the comment, “I’m not a racist. I have several Black friends;” or all lives matter.

Microagressions in the classroom are when teachers mispronounce students’ names even after being corrected; scheduling tests and project due dates on religious or cultural holidays; and setting low expectations for students from particular groups.

Yes, we whites have a lot of work to do.