MPR: Demonstrators gathered outside WCCO's office in Minneapolis to protest media bias against victims of police violence. Unicorn Riot was on the scene. If you have thoughts on this protest and issues of media coverage of police violence, I'd love to hear them. The email is cnelson@mpr.org

Ty: I have not seen much of WCCO’s media coverage, but from what I’ve seen of it, it appears to be the same as other news stations. I have also not seen any evidence WCCO or Bob Kroll’s wife, Liz Collins, who works at the WCCO location being protested have done anything with bias.

The page Unicorn Riot MPR links to does not give any evidence to support what they are protesting and from the first minute in Unicorn Riot’s video of speaking at the protest on their page, I see the speaker has bias of her own.

It is a bias I see in the black community to overemphasize what they view as bias against them, and it is no different than many other groups of ethnicity and creed who claim bias and injustice. People tend to see things with much greater negativity if it pertains to their perceived injustice when often the truth is, the bias is very much a perceptual skewing of reality.

I’m not saying there is no bias or discrimination against the black community or other ethnic groups. I am an Asian American and have had my share of discrimination and I’ve lived in urban neighborhoods, so I know what the protesters are talking about. I am saying the protesters are biased themselves and blowing up things that are not just because of prejudice against them.

For example, the woman speaking says she never saw any mug shots of white people on the news and claims that mug shots of black criminals are “immediately” shown. I’ve seen a ton of news and media in my nearly 50 years of life and I know for certain the media puts up mug shots of any suspects, no matter their race. Unicorn Riot also targets Liz Collins for being a close associate of Bob Kroll, but I’ve seen nothing that says she has bias against the black community. If they are only exaggerating things and accusing people simply out of association, then protesters are falling to the same errors of judgment they are protesting against.

The black community often emphasizes statistics of their population being “oppressed” by poverty and much lower median incomes than whites or other ethnic races, but the problem isn’t simply because of race or skin color. You cannot possibly claim that society is overwhelmingly bent against blacks and oppressing them just because of their skin color.

There have been many efforts by government and society to raise up and equalize Black America and other races over the decades that have given more opportunity, and naming a few places where there are “covenants” against blacks renting or owning property does not show that society as a whole is oppressing them. It shows there are still problems in places but not that all of America or society is against them.

Many of these protests have also tried to paint all law enforcement and government as discriminatory and oppressive, especially against the black community, but law enforcement and government as a whole is also not in the business of oppressing minorities. People, including in the black community, are stereotyping the whole with negative instances of the acts of a minority, which is something people of color often claim as discrimination against them.

As a minister of Christ, I was taught to see things in deeper ways and through spiritual eyes, and what I see is all parties are guilty – some law enforcement, like those involved with George Floyd’s killing, are guilty of excessive force, unempathetic responses, and complacency in allowing their peers to get away with abuse of power and inappropriate behavior; the black community are guilty of unforgiveness, arrogance (like not submitting peacefully to lawful authority), and adequate pursuit of peace and reconciliation (we are supposed to forgive and love our neighbors and even our enemies); while all parties are guilty of allowing darkness to lead their lives, which is a more involved topic.

This allowing and pursuit of bad things is actually what keeps many communities in their states of “oppression” or more accurately, place of little or no blessing from God. People and communities need to see what kind of values, attitudes, and pursuits they are teaching, reinforcing, and being complacent about in their families and neighborhoods, recognize what is bad, and change from it.

An example is that I saw a news report where a black leader said autopsy results showing George Floyd had meth or some other drug in his system was a “red herring” or distraction from the real issues and an attempt to smear Floyd’s reputation. However, I realize they are trying to keep people focused on what they want to achieve and are likely unwittingly showing their own prejudice and bias against the truth by dismissing there were drugs in Floyd’s system.

Not dismissing the truth is actually an important part of judging things without partiality and in seeing that Floyd’s own behaviors and values contributed to his death. I know Floyd was a man of faith and trying to build a better life, but all of us end up being held accountable for our wrongs and behaviors, whether we are saved in Christ or not. If this were not so, then Christians would be free to do all sorts of bad things and claim Christ’s salvation as a get out of jail free card for anything. The spiritual implications of sin and salvation are more complicated.

If there is to be lasting peace, healing, and prosperity for all, people need to see what they contribute to problems, change, and not just lay the blame on the other party and seek revenge. There are many places for improvement from everyone involved here.

Ty Alexander Huynh
Minister and Teacher of Christ Jesus