Criticisms Made Against the Black Lives Matter Movement
Floyd's death drew universal condemnation from every aspect of American society, but the decision over whether or not to fully support the Black Lives Matter Movement remains more divisive than ever before. Critics of the Black Lives Matter Movement often bring up a number of grievances against the movement. Some argue that the movement is too narrowly focused in some areas, and not focused enough in others. Some claim that the movement is too radical and polarizing, which makes it difficult for some Civil Rights activists to rally to the cause. Others state that the movement is being based on a mixture of half-truths and false pretends. Some have also stated that the movement is sparking too much unfair hostility to police officers and may even be helping to instigate a "War on Cops." Let us take some to to analyze these critiques constructively and see if they have a degree of merit.
The first critique is that the Black Lives Matter Movement fails to take into account the non-African Americans who are killed by police officer. A study in 2015 revealed that 662 Hispanic and White-Caucasian individuals were killed by the police while 258 African Americans were killed. When Zachary Hammond, an unarmed white
19-year-old was shot and killed by the police, it was largely ignored by the
media, something Hammond's family pointed out in a public statement. On July 15, 2017 a white unarmed 40-year-old Australian American woman Justine Damond was shot and killed by a police officer in Minneapolis.
Though there was a peaceful protest and a march in Justine's honor, Black Lives Matter not only failed to issue a strong condemnation of the murder, but they strangely stated that the officer who killed Justine was not required to have his body camera on.
The Second Critique is that the Black Lives Matter Movement fails raise a strong voice against the murders of African Americans that are not killed by the police. For over three decades, African Americans have accounted for over half of the homicide rate in the nation, yet the overwhelming majority are not killed in racist attacks, nor are they killed by police officers. The fact is that while homicide is the number one cause of death for African American men between the ages of 18-35 in the United States, the vast majority are killed by criminals, the majority of which are other African Americans. Journalist
John W. Fountain wrote in 2015 that for every African American killed by a non-African American, nine African Americans are killed by other African Americans. Critics state that Black Lives Matter aims for low-hanging fruits by focusing all their attention on African Americans killed by police, but do nothing to stop the "black on black" violence that has claimed so many lives, including young children. For instance, a few years ago in Brooklyn, a 1-year-old African American child was shot and killed by a criminal who was aiming for the child's father, but Black Lives Matter had no demonstrations for this child. Likewise, on
New Years weekend of 2016, at least 19 African Americans were were shot and killed, most of this
resulted from gang conflict. Of all of
these deaths, only Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old black man armed with a knife,
was shot and killed by Police Officers Jason Van Dyke, and only his death drew the ire of Black Lives Matter.
African American children such as 7-year-old Amari Brown and 9-year-old Antonio Smith were killed as a result of gang violence. In December of 2015, 15-year-old African American student Zaevion
Dabson gave his life shielding three young girls from an a drive-by shooter. Oddly, Black Lives Matter took no notice of any of these instances, and this is not unique. In 2015, the City of Baltimore had a record number of homicides. Baltimore, a city of slightly more than 600,000 had the same homicide count as NYC, a city of well over 8 million. Yet, only the death of Freddie Gray brought any kind of attention from Black Lives Matter.
This astounding homicide rate in Baltimore, in which the vast number of the killing of African Americans is done by other African Americans is not unique to this city. The same pattern is found in Washington D.C., Oakland, Detroit, Chicago, even Deep South cities like Birmingham, which was once considered the most racist city in the United States has witnessed this disturbing pattern. In 2019, the Chicago Tribune revealed that of the 192 African Americans killed in Chicago that year, only eight were killed by police officers, and all 8 were armed criminals. Black Lives Matter has not only failed to acknowledge this phenomenon, but they have actively smeared journalists, scholars, and other activists who have fought to try and bring this inconvenient truth to public attention.
The Third Critique is that Black Lives Matter is deliberately seeking polarization in their movement. In the city of Nashville a public library renounced the right of Black Lives Matter to meet in the library. The organizers said this was due to racism, but the fact is that it was due to this chapter openly stating that White people could not attend their meeting, which violated the Library's open door policy. A similar controversy occurred in Oak Park IL when members of Black Lives Matter were invited to come to local schools and discuss racial issues with students and parents after Michael Brown's death, but the Black Lives Matter representatives stated that Whites would not be permitted to attend.
In addition, Black Lives Matter has been accused of promoting false information. For instance, after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MI; Black Lives Matter helped circulate the rumor that Michael Brown was surrendering and popularized the "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" chant. However, numerous investigations revealed that Michael Brown had actually assaulted Officer Darren Wilson while he was in his police cruiser and tried to steal his gun. After fleeing, Brown turned around and charged at Wilson again, who only fired after Brown ignored repeated commands to stop. Interestingly enough, on the same day that Michael Brown was killed, 9-year-old African American girl Jamyla Bolden was also killed in Ferguson. She was murdered at home by a drive-by shooter while doing her homework. Yet there were no protests over her death by Black Lives Matter.
The Fourth and Final Critique is that Black Lives Matter is helping to instigate a "War on Police." Many remember the police massacre in Dallas in July of 2016 in which an African American deliberately opened fire and killed five police officers. Sadly, this was not an isolated incident. One Black Lives Matter supporter Ismaaiyl Brinsley ambushed and killed two police officers who were eating lunch. In Jersey City, Lawrence Campbell beat up an stabbed a store security guard and seized his gun, then waited for the police to arrive so he could shoot them. Lawrence ultimately shot and killed 23-year-old officer Melvin Santiago and later admitted that he never intended to rob the store, he was just looking to kill a cop.
Major Davis Jr. opened fire with an AK-47 at two officers who were near his family cookout, killing one and wounding another. He expressed no remorse and actually tried to sue the police for "excessive force." Strangely, Black Lives Matter voiced support for Davis. In Alabama, a detective was once approached by an aggressive suspect, but refrained from using force as he feared a backlash if he did. The suspect ultimately attacked the detective and beat him unconscious with his own pistol. These events are not isolated ones. According to the FBI, over 48,000 officers were assaulted while on duty in 2014 alone. Black Lives Matter has also failed to raise for African American Police Officers who lose their lives in the line of duty. When African American Officer Randolph Holder was killed while trying to stop a gang battle in Harlem, Black Lives Matter raised made no official condemnation of his death.
When researching these four critiques, it's quite clear that all four have merit. Black Lives Matter has failed to speak out for non-African Americans who are victims of police violence, they fail to speak out on behalf of the many African Americans who are murdered in criminal homicide (often by other African Americans), they are smearing the entire American police force, and have failed to urge their supporters not to launch physical attacks on police officers. Simply put, the Black Lives Matter needs to decide on its focus. If they're going to focus their movement on ending police violence, then they need to expand and include all people who are victims of police violence, and not exclude people of other races or even law enforcement officers who desire the same thing. However, if the Black Lives Matter movement is going to focus specially on protecting the lives of African Americans, then they need to start taking into account all of the African Americans who are wrongfully losing their lives and concede that efforts must be made to halt the criminal sub-culture in the U.S. that has taken far more Black Lives than Law Enforcement Officers.
Ex gang leader Arthur Reed once stated "Black Lives to Matter, but it must matter to black people first." These are strong words of great truth. Though many in America sympathize with the message of the the Black Lives Matter movement, these four critiques are making it difficult for the American people to unify behind their endeavor. If true effective change is to come about, then the leaders of Black Lives Matter must come together, effectively address these four critiques, and decide once of for all what the long-term goal is and how to amend their tactics so that the polarization stops and the unification begins.
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