Trying to Explain Black Lives Matter

I attended Netroots Nation held in St. Louis, Mo., this month. It was held there, in part to improve dialogue between the progressive movement and the Black Lives Matter movement. There were many panels designed to facilitate dialogue so it would be easier to understand the intersection of a movement concentrating on class with a movement concentrating on race. At the same time, one of those teachable moments came out when the Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee released its "Too Big to Jail" report, recounting the criminal charges brought against HSBC, a London-based multinational banking behemoth for money laundering.

The hyperbole of the report's language toward Attorney General Holder, aside, "Too Big to Jail" includes a chilling example of the privilege that comes with power . The report has an appendix with copies of emails within the administration detailing the balancing act of interests in pursuing criminal charges against HSBC. From the text of document prepared by the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice comes the following in their statement of facts in the case against HSBC:

"As a result of these concurrent AML [Anti-Money Laundering] failures, at least $881 million in drug trafficking proceeds, including proceeds of drug trafficking by the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico and the Norte del Valle Cartel in Colombia, were laundered through HSBC Bank USA. HSBC Group was aware of the significant AML problems at HSBC Mexico, yet inexplicably failed to inform HSBC Bank USA of these problems and their potential impact on HSBC Bank USA's AML program."

Granted, these are complex cases. And, very large banks like HSBC have high powered attorneys. So, to bring a successful conviction, the Justice Department must proceed with deliberation. Still, at stake was a huge and important cog in the illegal drug trade. The illegal drug trade in the United States is a multi-billion-dollar industry. Despite the huge increase in arrests of low-level drug dealers and users that clogged U.S. prisons and carted off thousands of young African American men, the industry's true foundation is its ability to move those billions of dollars to benefit the true profiteers of the industry and to finance the international logistics that moves the drugs; none of which are in the control of African Americans who over populate America's jails. This potential prosecution then, was directed at the real end of the business, the profits and the real chief operations' officers.

But, the report reveals that it wasn't just the issue of carefully documenting the facts so that a prosecutor could win beyond a reasonable doubt. The report reveals the power that comes from having expensive lawyers. And, more disturbing, there is the clear calculus of what would be the fallout of pursuing actions against HSBC. Hear is a quote from Attorney General Eric Holder appearing before the House Judiciary Committee on May 15, 2013 answering a question from Rep. John Conyers (D-MI):

"Now there are a number of factors that we have to take into consideration as we decide who we're going to prosecute. Innocent people can be impacted by a prosecution brought of a financial institution or any corporation."

Those "factors" it turned out for HSBC included consultations with British banking authorities, the Federal Reserve Bank Board of Governors and the U.S. Department of Treasury. They included concerns from the United Kingdom that the U.S. was going after a U.K. bank to advantage U.S. banking interests over U.K. banks. It included concerns about whether fining HSBC could harm the U.S. financial system. It all proceeded with bringing in the thoughts of many high level government officials on the impact of such a prosecution.

In the end, no one went to jail. HSBC was levied a fine and asked to sign an agreement that it would behave.

Here is how to explain Black Lives Matter. Eric Garner was suspected of selling cigarettes and avoiding the proper tax. No one set up a meeting with his attorneys. There weren't long discussions at the highest level as to the consequences to his family or neighborhood of actions against him. And, when he pleaded for his life, that "I can't breathe," he was treated with inhumane indifference until he was choked to death.

How does one square a world in which it matters what happens to those who are the true profiteers of the illegal drug trade, but not to a small time tax dodge? The innocent people, who are still traumatized by Eric Garner's death, don't have high placed advocates within government to slow the process; and, in Garner's case, to skip the burden of proof through legal prosecution and instead to summarily execute him?

What does it mean to the too many thousand African American men locked away from their families, from countless police interactions, for drug offenses if the war on drugs lets the actual profit makers go? Where is the calculus of the cost to children without fathers? Where is the balancing of the loss of income in neighborhoods for those innocent in the drug trade?

The report makes clear that some lives do matter. Because it shows the level of detail involved in complex matters that can take place. Yes, HSBC employee lives matter. Yes, British citizens lives matter. But, obviously, it can't be that Black Lives Matter when comparing treatment of the powerful.