There is No Comparison between Insurrectionists and BLM Protesters
Comparing the righteous protests against state-sanctioned murders of Black people to a violent insurrection is an atrocious form of gaslighting.
Last week, Trump followers, with the help of some Capitol Police and even GOP members of Congress, planned to capture and execute nationally-elected representatives. They did reconnaissance, set up gallows, and called for the execution of the Vice President and members of Congress.
They carried with them Confederate flags and other symbols of fascism and white supremacy. They took down the American flag and replaced it with a Trump flag. They brought weapons and bombs. They beat a police officer to death. And they did all of this with the explicit purpose of overturning the results of a national democratic election.
Black Lives Matter protesters, on the other hand, marched in the streets all over the country to seek justice in the wake of yet another brutal police murder. In response, they were beaten, shot, maced, kettled, and forcefully arrested over and over again despite remaining overwhelmingly peaceful.
Even journalists and medics were not immune to police aggression and violence. They too were brutalized and even blocked by police from giving food and medical aid to people in need. The police have repeatedly initiated violence toward BLM protesters, which has been thoroughly documented.
There is no comparison, and in fact many arguments being made are the same as those repeated by white “moderates” during the Civil Rights protests led by Dr. King and others, who we now claim to idolize. It’s time we learn from our history and finally, unequivocally stand in solidarity with Black lives.
By the way, it’s been confirmed that much of the “violence” in Minneapolis was instigated by white supremacists looking for a second civil war. These white supremacists want us to blame BLM and invalidate the movement, so they can maintain power. It’s a tool that’s been used over and over again throughout the history of the US and the world, in order to paint oppressed groups as “extremists” in the eyes of the public.
We can’t give in to their lies. We ought to be able to ethically understand the difference between setting fire to a Target and calling for the violent overthrow of Democracy. When we equate vandalism or looting to state-sanctioned murder, lynching, and the continued oppression of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people, we take part in the dissemination of destructive white nationalist propaganda.
White supremacy is the greatest threat to the nation. It’s time we finally swallow that hard truth, name it, and organize against it. Support Black Lives Matter; condemn and prosecute fascists, seditionists, and white supremacists.
Love and empathy demand it.
