When does a black life matter?

When black men die at the hands of white police officers, the national media plays and replays the incident and the "reaction" of the black community. Very rarely do we see the "reaction" of the white community. (But that's a blog for another day.)

When black men die at the hands of white police officers, "black leaders" will shout loud and long about how the culture of white entitlement must be changed. When riots occur, in the black neighborhoods, these same "black leaders" tell us that what we are seeing is frustration lashing out as a result of years of systemic abuse and neglect.

There will never be a justifiable reason for rioting and then destroying another person's property.

But society does have the right to hold accountable those who are charged with protecting society and enforcing the law when they betray the public trust.

What bothers me about Ferguson and Baltimore (and others to come) is this: when one black man was dying at the hands of a white police officer, many were dying at the hands of other black men.

Think about this.

Where was the national news coverage crying for justice for the black men who were killed by other black men?

Where were the organized marches seeking justice for the black men who were killed by other black men?.

Where were the riots for the black men who were killed by other black men?

Where was the black community's outcry and anger for the black men who were killed by other black men?

Where were the "black leaders" when the black men were killed by other black men? Why were they silent?

It really bothers me that the life of a black man only matters to the national news media, the black community and "black leaders" when it is taken by a white police officer.

Ask the black mother whose son was killed by another black man if his life mattered? Do you believe she will grieve less because her son did not die at the hands of a white police officer or that she will have fewer sleepless nights? Do you really?

A white police officer does not make a black life more important.

A black man does not make a black life less important.

And the news media doesn't care. All it wants is a story.

I, for one, am tired of the hypocrisy.