Is #BlackLivesMatter Racist?
By. Randall Barnes
With the recent racial events of the past few years, black people around America and the world have started to become more socially and politically aware. Once seemingly blind to the acts of covert oppression, the murder of Michael Brown and the highly publicized riots in Ferguson, Mo. and Baltimore, Md. have shown the African-American population that the system of white supremacy is indeed an issue that must be confronted. Grassroots movements have been created in response to racist acts by bigoted white citizens and police officers, but none more powerful then “#BlackLivesMatter”.
Using our savvy social media skills, black millennials have championed this hashtag on Twitter and caused a viral discussion about the total disregard of black life in America. Of course, something so positive and forthright wouldn’t go on for long without opposition. Propaganda-based news organization Fox News and other conservative media personalities have used their platforms to challenge the good intentions of the “#BlackLivesMatter” campaign by branding it as a police hate group instead of a movement to further the call for black human rights. Even black police officers, seemingly more loyal to their jobs than their racial/ethnic identity, have joined in championing the new campaign “#AllLivesMatter”.
“#AllLivesMatter” was made in opposition to “#BlackLivesMatter," with supporters of the latter completely diminishing everything that legitimate social activists and well-meaning people of color have been fighting for over the past year. It seems as if the “#BlackLivesMatter” movement is being attacked by conservative detractors and even members of the organization. Recently, there’s been public tension among some of the more notable members of the movement as collective heat has been put on them. Simply put, some of them now seem like opportunists who are using a legitimate social issue to get attention.
Some “#BlackLivesMatter” supporters are picking fights with black celebrities over childish nonsense, wasting time and energy that could be put into actual political activism and economic empowerment. Nia Long, most known for her culturally iconic role of fiery broadcast journalist “Jordan Armstrong” in The Best Man franchise, was heavily criticized and attacked on social media after using the “#AllLivesMatter” hashtag. Let’s just disregarded the fact that she was promoting an organization seeking justice for wrongfully convicted inmates, a major problem among the black male population. No, taking her out of context and “putting her in check” is better! They get to have the notoriety they care so much about right?
Never mind the pettiness that’s coming from many members of “#BlackLivesMatter”. The detractors are even more absurd! How is saying that black lives matter in any way disregarding the issues of other ethnic groups? Is there any other group of people in America more disrespected then black folks? Let’s be real, the branding of the “#BlackLivesMatter” campaign as “racist” makes no sense. As a matter a fact, it makes the idea of “reverse racism” hilarious in hindsight.
“#BlackLivesMatter” is backed and funded by George Soros, a billionaire investor who uses his money, power and influence to affect the social and political landscape. The hashtag-turned-political organization was created by Alicia Garza, director of Special Projects for the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA). The NDWA is recipient of George’s Soros’s Open Society grant, which means that the organization is on his payroll. So, no matter what detractors say, Soros is directly and/or indirectly in support of #BlackLivesMatter.
So, how can an organization bankrolled by a white billionaire be racist? When anyone in opposition of the relevance of a movement such as “#BlackLivesMatter” answers that, we can have a real discussion.
