Ever since the brutal death of George Floyd at the hands of the police, the Black Lives Matter movement has seen a dramatic resurgence, both on social media and on the American street. The movement’s titular message declares that America needs to place more value on the lives of its black citizens and no longer treat them as cheap or expendable.
On its face, the message is a good one. And the rejoinder “yes, but all lives matter” is not the correct response, because it implies that the challenges black Americans face are no different than the challenges that all Americans face. That is not true. Many of our nation’s black communities are in a state of crisis, with rampant crime, chronic poverty, and other systemic problems.
Do I believe that black lives matter? Yes, I certainly do. I also understand the need to emphasize that black lives matter, and applaud it.
But do black lives actually matter to the movement itself?
What about black police and law enforcement officers? They put their lives on the line every day to serve and protect their communities. Do their lives matter too?
What about black victims of black crime? In the last two weeks since the protests and riots began, the murder rate in cities like Chicago has skyrocketed. Because of the Ferguson Effect, more blacks are being murdered, not less. Do their lives matter too?
What about the tens of thousands of black lives that are aborted every year? The abortion rate among blacks is disproportionately high. In Manhattan, more black babies are aborted than born. Do those black lives matter?
Don’t get me wrong. I believe that the majority of supporters of Black Lives Matter genuinely have the best interests of black Americans at heart. But when you look at what the movement actually stands for, there are some glaring inconsistencies. For example, Black Lives Matter officially endorses the disruption of the traditional nuclear family. Yet according to black activists like Candace Owens and Larry Elder, the root cause of many of the problems in the black community is black fatherlessness:
If black fatherlessness is the root cause of so many of the problems in the black community, why does Black Lives Matter want to destroy the family?
If black-on-black crime is far too high, why does Black Lives Matter want to abolish the police?
If black babies are aborted at a disproportionately high rate, why is Black Lives Matter funneling donations to the party that advocates for abortion on demand up to (and even after) the point of birth?
Because black lives don’t actually matter to these people.
At best, Black Lives Matter is exploiting the issue of race to promote a far-left political agenda. At worst, it is a revolutionary Marxist front-group. Is it any wonder that they want to abolish the police? Why else would the movement be spreading internationally?
The message that black lives matter is a good one, and a lot of well-meaning people support it. Unfortunately, Black Lives Matter doesn’t believe their own message. They are manipulating us like useful idiots to achieve, through violence, their radical political ends.
And if they succeed, black Americans will be harmed the most.
Here’s a great video, “Black Lives Matter Is A Leftist Lie” from the Hodge Twins:
I’ve never read anything more condescending to me. You have literally just said that our activism is has led to some kind of conspiracy that we’re apparently not smart enough to understand. This is the problem with people who think like you, YOU DON’T SEE US AS PEOPLE.
We’re not capable of actually being in charge of our message. That’s how little you think of us and our message.
I’m so ashamed I actually gave you money for your books. I’m glad I came here. I’ve learned a terrible lesson. An otherwise smart, talented, and wise person can feel this way.
This is why I often say that things will never change from the deep and fundamental place where prejudice lies. You can’t even give us the benefit of the doubt.
On the contrary, Dude Never. I absolutely see you as people—as individuals. That is why I listen to Candace Owens and Larry Elder, to balance out what I hear from the activists. It is the height of racism to claim that all black people, or all white people, or all green or yellow or purple people think the same way, act the same way, believe the same way, and have the same lived experience because of the color of their skin.
It’s not a question of whether you’re “smart enough to understand.” The smartest person in the world will make stupid mistakes if all of their information is bad. I have given you the benefit of the doubt in assuming that your intentions are good, but that you have been gaslit and misled by the people in charge of the movement, in order to accomplish their violent and destructive ends.
I have no desire to control your message. You are in charge of that. However, you are not in control of how that message will be received. Actions speak louder than words. A “mostly peaceful” protest is still a violent riot. If you say that black lives matter, but refuse to say that all black lives matter—black cops, black babies, and black victims of black-on-black crime—what other conclusion can I come to than you do not mean what you say?
Joe, Dude Never has already made up his mind. Since he didn’t care to research what the BLM, Inc. and Anti-Fa movements actually are, there’s nothing you can say that will change his mind. Unfortunately, Liberals don’t care about facts and the truth, it’s all about emotion with them.
Perhaps. But whether or not Dude Never changes their mind, I still think it’s worth giving them the dignity of a response, if for nothing else than to show that I do see them as a person.
I understand that. I was simply trying to say don’t feel bad that you can’t change his mind. I have friends in real life that are Progressives, and believe everything they hear from CNN, MSNBC, etc. If I try to bring up the truth based on real facts, they say that’s the lie 🙁 So I don’t bother trying to show them the truth anymore, and we don’t discuss politics.