Why Black Lives Matter has lost support

How do you feel about Black Lives Matter?

Wait! Stop! That’s a poor question, because Black Lives Matter isn’t a single thing.

First is the idea, the principle, that Black Lives Matter (also). 

Second is what I call Black Lives Matter, Inc., which is the Marxist-led political/social action group, with elements that are anti-police, and anti-Semitic. BLM, Inc., is the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation that took in about $90 million in 2020. (The NAACP’s revenues are about $25 million.)

If we step into the Way Back Machine, you’ll see that Your Favorite Columnist took a hard look at BLM, Inc., August 2020.

I went to its website, where it defines itself, and found that its principles weren’t exactly Marxist, but there was a lot to dislike anyway.

Such as, “We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families….”

No mother, father, sister, brother. Maybe a village. Maybe a commune. 

Also, “In order to win and bring as many people with us along the way, we must move beyond the narrow nationalism that is all too prevalent in the Black community.”

That sounds like Black lives aren’t the only lives that matter, but if I say that, it would be racist.

BLM still believes that Michael Brown is some kind of martyr, despite several official inquiries — one by Eric Holder’s Department of Justice — that could find no charges to bring against the officer who killed him. 

“Hands up, don’t shoot” is a lie. But BLM, Inc., presents it as an article of faith.

“We are self-reflexive and do the work required to dismantle cisgender privilege,  and uplift Black trans folk, especially Black trans women who continue to be disproportionately impacted by trans-antagonistic violence,” the website stated. 

Also: “We know police don’t keep us safe — and as long as we continue to pump money into our corrupt criminal justice system at the expense of housing, health, and educational investments — we will never be truly safe.”

As if no money were spent on housing, health, education.

And: “We build  space that affirms Black women and is free from sexism,  misogyny, and environments in which men are centered.”

The website is filled with la-de-da feel-good sentiments, actually dissing men, but, that’s the heart of their movement — queer, feminist, Black.

The cognitive clattering you may hear is knowledge that a large percentage of church-going African-Americans are socially conservative and are not wildly waving rainbow flags, nor building unisex bathrooms for the choir.

After George Floyd’s murder, Black Lives Matter, Inc., was perfectly positioned to take the lead — despite video of some of its members chanting, “Pigs in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon” and others openly calling for killing cops. Not all BLM marches said this, but enough did.

Still, with chapters across the country, this was the time for BLM’s closeup, and 61% of white Americans had a favorable view of BLM.

That was then.

It has dropped to 48% or less in recent polls.

Why? 

Certainly, the conviction of former cop Derek Chauvin drained a lot of the urgency from the movement. And movements have a limited life span, and polls are a snapshot of an instant, and sentiments are always in flux.

And because of other things learned about BLM, Inc., such as leaders enriching themselves, and anti-Israeli attitudes,  support — in another poll — has slipped to 37% of white Americans, while support for police has increased, according to the fivethirtyeight website.  

Wow.

Let me ask you this: Is the impression you get from the networks and your daily paper that BLM, Inc., speaks for most Americans?

It does not. 

There’s more. According to the Morning Consult-Politico poll, 69% of Americans think police violence is a “serious problem,” down from 79%, right after Floyd’s death.

77% of Americans approved of Chauvin’s conviction, while 91% of Blacks did. I wonder about the other 9%. 

And I caution, whenever you read about how people feel about Black Lives Matter, pay attention to what they are talking about — the idea, or the organization. It makes a big difference.