Black Appraisals of Black Lives Matter – Part IV

by Soeren Kern, GATESTONE INSTITUTE  •  October 31, 2020


(Photo of Rob Smith by Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

“Black Lives Matter has become a major political force during this intense election year…. But while BLM claims to benefit Black Americans, the truth is that it actually hurts us. BLM’s cult-like tactics are more like those of a violent gang than a traditional civil rights group fighting against racial discrimination.” — Rob Smith, U.S. Army veteran.

  • “Self-destructive behavior that has become acceptable, particularly that in predominantly Black schools, is nothing less than a gross betrayal of a struggle, paid with blood, sweat and tears by previous generations, to make possible today’s educational opportunities that are being routinely squandered.” — Walter E. Williams, Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University.
  • “The unthinkable — such as defunding major police departments — has become accepted as ‘reform.’ Judging people based on their skin color has once again become accepted in the highest echelons of American society.” — Ward Connerly, political activist, businessman, and former University of California Regent.

  • “Critical Race Theory holds that anytime there is disparity between blacks and whites, then it has to be systemic. Therefore, the response has to be to change and alter the standards, because to say to black Americans, or anyone they consider marginalized, that they must alter their behavior to meet the standards is racist. This is just a logical extension of that.” — Robert L. Woodson, founder and president of the Woodson Center, community development leader, author.
  • “Nothing is more injurious to a people than to convey the notion that they are exempt from personal responsibility.” — Robert L. Woodson, founder and president of the Woodson Center, community development leader, author.
  • “Do you care about black lives? The people that run Baltimore don’t. I can prove it. Walk with me. They don’t want you to see this. This is Baltimore. The real Baltimore. This is the reality for black people every day: crumbling infrastructure, abandoned homes, poverty and crime.” — Kim Klacik, businesswoman and congressional candidate for Maryland.
  • “If America is merely apartheid-era South Africa with four time zones, why did President Donald J. Trump bother to establish 8,760 Opportunity Zones to revitalize economically distressed communities, many of them black? How did America’s institutionalized racism let Trump provide school-choice options for black kids in K-12 schools, and long-term federal funding and other benefits for Historically Black Colleges and Universities?” — Deroy Murdock, political commentator, author.
  • “The worst thing that can happen to this country to give Black Lives Matter legitimacy. It’s just communism being presented in blackface.” — Nick Fad, investigative journalist.
  • “Black Lives Matters supporters taking to the streets, screaming in the faces of white diners attempting to enjoy a meal outside, breaking into stores, looting, setting fires and engaging in other acts of physical violence aren’t movement members. They’re criminals. BLM is their cult. It is their religion. It is what gives them purpose.” — Rob Smith, U.S. Army veteran.
  • “I personally don’t dare speak out against the BLM narrative, and with this barrage of alleged unity being mass-produced by the administration, tenured professoriate…. I am certain that if my name were attached to this email, I would lose my job and all future jobs, even though I believe in and can justify every word I type.” — Anonymous, black professor of history at the University of California, Berkeley, in an open letter to colleagues.
  • “Donating to BLM today is to indirectly donate to Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign. This is grotesque given the fact that the American cities with the worst rates of black-on-black violence and police-on-black violence are overwhelmingly Democrat-run. Minneapolis itself has been entirely in the hands of Democrats for over five decades; the ‘systemic racism’ there was built by successive Democrat administrations.” — Anonymous, black professor of history at the University of California, Berkeley, in an open letter to colleagues.
  • “The ever-present soft bigotry of low expectations and the permanent claim that the solutions to the plight of my people rest exclusively on the goodwill of whites rather than on our own hard work is psychologically devastating. No other group in America is systematically demoralized in this way by its alleged allies.” — Anonymous, black professor of history at the University of California, Berkeley, in an open letter to colleagues.

This multi-part series (Part I here, Part II here, Part III here) focuses on the perspectives of blacks — conservative, liberal or libertarian — who appraise BLM and its agenda. The following selection of commentary by blacks from all walks of life — actors, athletes, businesspeople, civil rights activists, clergy, commentators, physicians and politicians — demonstrates that black public opinion is not monolithic, and that BLM does not speak for all African Americans.

Walter E. Williams, Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, wrote:

“While no one can deny the existence of residual racial discrimination, racial discrimination is not the major problem confronting a large segment of the Black community.

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