Conveniently, Black Lives Matter would rear its head into the public square when the opportunity presented itself. Not missing a beat, the opportunity of George Floyd’s death would be seized by the movement May of 2020. BLM riots ensued and engulfed The States. Buildings burned, statues toppled, and highways were shut down. BLM would act in the name of black injustice and societal accountability, and with such a seemingly noble cause support for the movement abounded. International citizens and billion-dollar corporations lauded the Black Lives Matter message. Certainly, any reasonable person would agree the video of Floyd’s death was grotesque. But in BLM’s wake, black people would be forgotten. They would be left stranded with demolished businesses and broken neighborhoods while BLM parades down inner-city streets.
Droves of BLM protestors marched the streets during the following months of Floyd’s death. These protests were passionate, however, this type of passion was accompanied with a looting of private business, rioting, and property damage. BLM and their advocates claim this was merely collateral, and therefore necessary for “justice and accountability”. But much of that collateral damage was inflicted on black people – Black business and black property. Such a statement comes from a place of massive privilege; it would be interesting to ask if the black business business owners hold the same opinion. Such a destruction of black people’s livelihood is demonstrable that BLM considers black lives (and businesses) as dispensable. The benevolence of this movement is a façade, and this facade is glaringly obvious by the destruction of black business in the name of “No Justice No Peace”.The actions of ”No Justice No Peace” hurts black people.
A List Of Black Owned Businesses Impacted By BLM
Kris Shelby – Attom Concept. Entire store looted.
Kester Wubben – Mail and printing business. Televisions, iPad, and U-Haul truck stolen.
Derrick Hayes – Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks. Had a “black-owned” sign on display. Windows busted.
Elliot Broaster – Smokes n’ Things. Smashed windows, smashed glass products, stole products, defaced property.
Eli Aswan – Car lot owner. Office windows smashed, two cars destroyed, $17,000 dollars in car titles and equipment.
Janice Wilbourn – Wilbourn Sisters Designs. Boulders thrown at windows.
Chanel Hawk – RCR Luxury Boutique. Entire inventory stolen, broken windows, register cash stolen.
Chiedozie Amajoyi – Gina’s Bargain Thrift. Door frame torn down, entire store vandalized. Items destroyed.
Kobie Evans – Pure Oasis. $100,000 inventory loss.
Jessica McClain – Black and White Look Optical D.C. Had “Black Businesses Matter” on display. Store looted.
Chris Montana – Distillery business. Had “Black-owned business” on display. Looted and torched.
Abdishakur Elmi – Hamdi Restaurant. Completely burned down.
Steve Jamison – Blue Sole Shoes. Business damaged.
Leon Scott – Silver Legends. Broken windows, in-store damages, cash stolen, merchandise stolen.
Anti-Police Culture
Black Lives Matter fostered an anti-police culture. This, is easily observable by their #DefundThePolice sub-movement. BLM advocates claim their intention was for genuine police reform, but when observing the riots and anti-police signage it’s far from convincing. The results from this anti-police culture, surely unbeknownst to Black Lives Matter, would endanger black lives and black communities. In a prior newsletter I wrote about how anti-police culture influenced a mass exodus of police officers and caused an uproar of criminality. But, it would be imperative to briefly mention that New York City, Seattle, and Baltimore have all seen significant increases in crime since the police exodus. Many police departments report upswings in violent crime and shooting incidents. Black Lives Matter had some of their largest protests in these areas. But these cities are urban areas–where black people live, and thereby suffer the brunt of the consequences. Indeed, BLM left these communities more endangered than they were before. Black people are now left to fend for themselves in their communities with higher crime rates and less police officers to enforce the law. But alas, it seems Black Lives Matter will do anything for their contortion of justice. Perhaps the organization is ambivalent towards black lives and their communities.
Worsened Race Relations
It’s no surprise such a movement would worsen race relations in The United States. A recent poll from Gallup reports 57% of survey participants consider black and white relations are “somewhat bad”, or “very bad”. According to Gallup, this is an all-time-high for a consecutive year. Black Lives Matter would further stoke the fire. Data from Civiqs, an online polling company, show after the George Floyd protests white support for BLM dropped to lower than it was before. But the problem is not that white people don’t support BLM, rather, the problem is black people support BLM and white people do not. This is a case for tension between the two races. After BLM events popped up across The States, the races became diametrically opposed to one another. BLM, splitting them apart. It’s uncertain how furthering the divide is of any help to black lives, though it certainly discourages a helping hand. Only a movement that is fueled by resentment instead of benevolence.
Attention Was Pulled Away From Real Issues
Black communities are haunted with crime, much of it gun violence. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation who draws data from the CDC, black people have the highest amount of deaths due to firearms per 100,000 people. For every 100,000 people, there are 23.6 deaths due to firearms – more than twice than that of whites. This is not to point fingers or blame people, rather this should be noted to grieve with the black families within urban areas.
As of this June The Chicago Police Department reported 336 homicides in 2021 – 33% more than 2019. 327 homicides would occur in Detroit in 2020, a 19% increase. The police department would also report a 53% increase in non-fatal shootings. When looking at the chart below, gun violence doesn’t appear to be slowing down, either. Missouri’s gun violence rate continues to climb. Black Lives Matter would ultimately shift the public attention and legislation prospects away from the issue. Moreover, they would influence a culture that is increasing crime. Thus, not only does BLM fail to bring attention to where it should be, which is crime and violence in urban communities, they are complicit in the violence itself.
In the big picture, Black Lives Matter is a walking hypocrisy that has only worsened black lives and black communities. The organization has not only moved attention away from what is affecting black lives the most, it has caused more chaos. Violence is up, police are down, black businesses were destroyed, and the races are further opposed to one another than they were before the BLM uproar. BLM’s noble cause is merely surface level, and black people are used as scapegoats, sacrificed on the alter for “Justice and Accountability”.
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