Black Lives Matter Is Not A Hate Group

The Black Lives Matter movement is increasingly accused of being a hate group.

In this clip, Dylan Marron, creator of “Every Single Word“: “a video series that edits down popular films to only feature the words spoken by people of color” taps into the logic that contributes to this false comparison.

“1. Don’t do research.

2. Falsely and disrespectfully invoke Martin Luther King Jr.

3. Imagine stereotypical movie scenarios as real-life, factual representations.

4. Do a basic internet search of hate groups and compare Black Lives Matter with the first hate group you find.

5. Grab a camera and use the previous steps as talking points.

6. Ignore the irony present in this false comparison.”

“We Affirm That Black Lives Matter”

Learn more about the principles of Black Lives Matter.

“The statement “black lives matter” is not an anti-white proposition. Contained within the statement is an unspoken but implied “too,” as in “black lives matter, too,” which suggests that the statement is one of inclusion rather than exclusion.

However, those white people who continue to mischaracterize the affirmation of the value of black life as being anti-white are suggesting that in order for white lives to matter, black lives cannot. That is a foundational premise of white supremacy. It is antithetical to what the Black Lives Matter movement stands for, which is the simple proposition that “black lives also matter.”

The Black Lives Matter movement demands that the country affirm the value of black life in practical and pragmatic ways, including addressing an increasing racial wealth gap, fixing public schools that are failing, combating issues of housing inequality and gentrification that continue to push people of color out of communities they have lived in for generations, and dismantling the prison industrial complex.

None of this is about hatred for white life. It is about acknowledging that the system already treats white lives as if they have more value, as if they are more worthy of protection, safety, education, and a good quality of life than black lives are. This must change.”

Learn more about some of the major misconceptions about The Black Lives Matter Movement.

Ubuntu,

From Aspiring Humanitarian, Relando Thompkins-Jones, MSW, LLMSW

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I'm a Social Justice Educator and Aspiring Humanitarian who is interested in conflict resolution, improving intergroup relations, and building more equitable and inclusive communities. "Notes from an Aspiring Humanitarian" is my blog, where I write about issues of diversity, inclusion, equity, and social justice. By exploring social identities through written word, film & video, and other forms of media, I hope to continue to expand and enrich conversations about social issues that face our society, and to find ways to take social action while encouraging others to do so as well in their own ways.

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3 Responses

  1. Caleb Gee says:

    No one with an ounce of credibility would dare classify Black Lives Matter as a hate group. The Southern Poverty Law Center basically told the 10,000 or whatever fools who petitioned them to to kick rocks. It’s a shame that Black people can’t even form a movement to demand their dignity be respected without them being demonized by the politicians and racists in the media.

    • Absolutely. Thank you for your comment Caleb. Centering Blackness in any way is seen as a threat in a White Supremacist System. The same force that drives a petition to classify Black Lives Matter as a hate group is the same force that uses “All Lives Matter” as a way to silence the voices of Black people and their allies.

      • Caleb Gee says:

        Exactly. If all lives mattered in the eyes of the law, it wouldn’t even be necessary to have to say Black Lives Matter. It would be a given. But in the world we live in it is necessary.

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