In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter has risen to new heights
of national prominence. “Black Lives Matter” has become the chant of choice for the massive
protest movement, the hashtag of choice to signal support for ending police brutality,
and by Mayor's order, even became the new name of the plaza outside the White House.
With such consensus around ending police brutality, many wonder in frustration how anyone could
have a problem with Black Lives Matter. Are they racists? Do they not care about black
lives? In fact, the Left and Right are often discussing different thing and don’t realize
they’re talking past each other. To the center-Left, Black Lives Matter is a decentralized
rallying cry to bring attention to the cause of police violence. But to the Right and the
far-Left, Black Lives Matter is a specific group, with specific chapters and leadership,
with goals that go far beyond ending police brutality. Black Lives Matter’s “Herstory”
began in 2013, when three self-described “radical” organizers, self-described “trained Marxists”,
all with ties to explicitly socialist and communist groups, created the famed hashtag.
Soon after, they founded the Black Lives Matter Global Network, which now has over 40 chapters.
Black Lives Matter Detroit clarifies, “What do we mean when we write, speak, or shout
Black Lives Matter?” ... “to focus only on police brutality is to address merely a
portion of the problem.” So what’s the rest of it? Black Lives Matter D.C. self-describes
as “radical” too and seeks not just the abolition of “white supremacy”, but also
“capitalism” and alleged “patriarchy” and “colonialism”. Black Lives Matter
Chicago also works to “deconstruct” “capitalism”, and describes itself as “intersectional”.
Intersectionality means that the movement must pay attention to all allegedly oppressed
voices, not just black lives. Black Lives Matter Michigan and Nashville include “Globalism”
on their list of priorities, and Black Lives Matter Toronto “demands” that “the federal
government must create a regularization program so that all undocumented residents can live
here”. Many of the chapters explain that “when we gather, we do so with the intention
of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking”. Black Lives Matter
Los Angeles states that one of their goals is “toppling” “white-supremacist-patriarchal-heteronormative-capitalism”.
Black Lives Matter Vancouver states that they center “the lived experiences of Black people
who are queer, trans, non-binary, live with disability, and/or do sex work”. Black Lives
Matter Nashville even bizarrely claims that, “we are committed to disrupting the Western-prescribed
nuclear family structure”. To be clear, fighting racism and other forms of discrimination
is good and needed. But does one have to combat “heteronormative-capitalism” to fight
homophobia? Do we need to have complete open immigration to combat xenophobia? Do
we have to “center” people who “do sex work”? Black Lives Matter Vancouver demands
“abolishing police and prisons”. Is that a realistic solution for poor neighborhoods?
Most conservatives support capitalism not because it keeps them in power and others
oppressed, but because we believe private property and markets best allow everyone to
improve their quality of life, especially those who are, for now, the least well off.
But Black Lives Matter Los Angeles insists “It’s not enough to replace white capitalism
with Black capitalism, we have to engage in ‘cooperative economics”. And the Black
Lives Matter Global Network has supported some of history’s most brutal communist
dictators. When Fidel Castro died, they declared, “We are feeling many things as we awaken
to a world without Fidel Castro. There is an overwhelming sense of loss, complicated
by fear and anxiety. Although no leader is without their flaws, we must push back against
the rhetoric of the right and come to the defense of El Comandante.” Black Lives Matter
is attempting to co-opt people’s desire to end police brutality into a much larger
agenda. And it’s working. Even before the George Floyd protests, Black Lives Matter
has received massive donations from billionaire left-wing foundations. Since the protests,
donations to Black Lives Matter have become common from Big Business. We need real solutions
to improve policing, end police brutality, and improve the lives of black Americans.
Unfortunately, Black Lives Matter offers no such thing. For one solution, watch CRC’s
video on why we need to “Ban Police Unions!” I’m Bob Woodson. Thanks for watching!