Jack Folwer: BLM: A Thing Of The Left Anchored On A Cop-Hating Strategy

This, I think, advanced my understanding of BLM. 

It goes without saying that the cops need to be very, very non-racist. I'm not sure where they actually stand on that goal, but the numbers seem to indicate that they're pretty good--at least with respect to the use of lethal force. 

   So BLM has, somewhere mixed in it, a good--though not clearly necessary anymore--goal.

   But BLM also has some bad goals and ideals. And it's clear that it has quite a bit of extremist leftism mixed in it.

   Fowler quotes a report on BLM:

   Black Lives Matter as a movement represents the hopes and dreams of leftist organizers who shared with us that, until now, they had never felt such a sense of hope and excitement that their goal – as one operative put it, “total social upheaval,” and “systemic change” – could be realized in their lifetime. From veteran agitators like the Weather Underground’s Bill Ayers to a new crop of social-media-wielding female and LGBTQ leaders, Black Lives Matter is encapsulating the hopes and dreams of multiple generations of progressives in a way, they say, no movement has before.

   The three female founders of the movement have made it clear, and the message has seeded itself as far down the chain as the operatives we spoke with, that Black Lives Matter is the vessel through which all progressive causes can flow. LGBTQ, illegal immigration, abortion, and countless other causes are simmering just beneath the public face of the focus on police violence. Even police violence flows neatly, according to Black Lives Matter, into economic violence – wage issues, workers rights . . . The panoply of leftist groups come together under this banner.
...

   Black Lives Matter presents an alternative view of the American story, rooted in Marxism and one that thrives on encouraging division. Many have criticized its avoidance of facts about bias in policing — facts that would directly counter the Black Lives Matter narrative. Nevertheless, it has captured the nation’s attention through its use of social-media and cameras but also by recruiting the young Americans who will fi ll the streets with their presence and engage the public’s interest with their fervor.

   If Black Lives Matter succeeds, it will have reengineered the minds of America to view our system, our history, and our future, through the lens of division and hate. In its dishonest weakening of public trust in the police officer, the representative of law and order and equality before the law, Black Lives Matter weakens the very foundations of our country.

…

   To counter this advance, marketers of freedom must understand why they are losing mindshare to the left’s Black Lives Matter ideology if they are to effectively counter their messages and rebuild demand for our principles....
   The police, as representatives of the state, must be messaged as exemplifying the Black Lives Matter framing by being themselves oppressive and racist.
   Focusing vitriol against law enforcement officers is way to translate a political ideology (Marxism) into a tangible enemy that adherents can picture, encounter, and target. By seeking out stories of potential (founded and unfounded) injustices perpetrated by police and encouraging mass outrage in reaction to them, BLM is able to channel the emotion their message fosters against an enemy people can see. . . .
   Nevertheless, Black Lives Matter has captured the nation’s attention by arguing that a systemic problem exists in the use of deadly force in a disproportionate way against Black Americans. The message continues to resonate and be repeated, despite factual challenges.
   Nearly every Black Lives Matter activist we spoke with, including the operatives responsible for crafting and selling-in the message of the movement, stressed that this was about a systemic problem in society – racism built into the fabric of the nation. But perhaps even more important, by proving to the American public that police violence exists, BLM is able to then jump to the conclusion that other types of “violence” against the community do as well: “economic violence,” for example, as low wages in the Black community signify.