By Paul Bremmer
Contrary to what some Democratic presidential candidates said during their first debate, all lives matter, declares a black talk-radio host, author and columnist.
"In my personal opinion, there's nothing wrong with saying all lives matter, because all lives do matter," said Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, author of the forthcoming book "The Antidote." "So, as a black man, I'm really offended when I hear whites and other black people saying that black lives matter, but not all lives."
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During the debate, a law school student submitted a video question asking the candidates, "Do black lives matter, or do all lives matter?"
Bernie Sanders, the junior senator from Vermont, replied "black lives matter," prompting cheers from the crowd. He went on to voice the need to reform the criminal justice system and "combat institutional racism."
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Martin O'Malley, the former Maryland governor, said the Black Lives Matter movement makes a "very, very legitimate and serious point" that the U.S. has undervalued the lives of black people. He also said "black lives matter" but refused to say all lives matter.
Peterson believes Sanders and O'Malley are intimidated by the Black Lives Matter movement. He remembers when BLM activists hijacked the stage and microphone at a Sanders rally in Seattle this past summer. O'Malley, meanwhile, was booed and jeered for saying "all lives matter" at a campaign rally.
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"They're afraid of being attacked by these people, and then they're afraid if they don't cater to Black Lives Matter, that they're going to lose support from black people who normally vote for the Democrats," Peterson said. "And so right now they're controlled by these folks, without a doubt."
Colin Flaherty, a reporter who chronicled numerous cases of black mob violence in his book "White Girl Bleed a Lot: The Return of Racial Violence to America and How the Media Ignore It," told WND Democrats don't understand the true nature of racial tension.
"Democrats who are afraid to say all lives matter have bought into the greatest lie of our generation: that black people are relentless victims of relentless white racism – all the time, everywhere and that explains everything," Flaherty said. "When in fact the opposite is true: black violent crime is wildly out of proportion. As is black-on-white crime."
Peterson does not believe white Democrats would support Black Lives Matter if they did not feel pressured to do so. And he doesn't believe either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party would support a white group with similar aims.
"If Black Lives Matter was a white group with the same message, the same attitude, they would call them racists, they would shun them, they would not support them, but there's a double standard," Peterson said. "And these evil black organizations are ruling right now."
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The only Democrat on the debate stage to suggest all lives matter was former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb.
He said, "As president of the United States, every life in this country matters."
Jack Cashill, a WND columnist and author of "Scarlet Letters: The Ever-Increasing Intolerance of the Cult of Liberalism Exposed," called Webb's answer "the most unnerving moment" in the debate.
"After he said it, you could hear his poll numbers drop," Cashill said. "There was no applause. The others who responded insisted 'black lives matter.' Fear drove their answer and fear drove the audience's response. The 'progressives' have taken over the Democratic Party."
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Peterson believes if the Democratic Party embraces the Black Lives Matter movement, as it appears to be doing, it will create a climate of fear and intimidation that will severely damage the nation.
"White Americans are already afraid of black people for fear of being called racist," Peterson said. "If they confirm or put this group in the forefront, white people don't have a chance. The violence against white Americans and white cops will absolutely go out of control. It's already out of control, but it will only get worse because Black Lives Matter is encouraging hatred and violence against white Americans and white police officers."
Flaherty agreed Democrats' embrace of BLM is a bad omen for the country.
"Democrats have decided to enable this enormous amount of black crime and violence by blaming it all on white racism," he argued. "We are seeing the consequences of that in greater violence among black people and greater hostility between the races. Black racial hostility towards whites is now normal and has become institutionalized."
Peterson went even further, predicting the Democratic Party's validation of Black Lives Matter could lead to a full-on race war.
"We already have a race war happening, except it's a one-sided war where whites are under attack. But I think white people are going to eventually become fed up with being afraid and not saying anything, and we're going to have a race war on [our] hands," Peterson said.
"And the unfortunate thing about that, Barack Obama and others are going to come riding in and say, 'Hey, this is the reason to take your guns away. This is the reason for the government to impose even more so,' which is really going to hurt all of us and not just white people."