Do black livlihoods matter?

[Mr_Adams]

A lot of black businesses destroyed, and Black Lives Matter doesn't seem to be much interested in doing anything about it.

[mrswdk]

Are black people the real racists? And they are racist against other blacks?

Good post, Adams. Very thought provoking.

[Jdsizzleslice]

A lot of black businesses destroyed, and Black Lives Matter doesn't seem to be much interested in doing anything about it.

This is actually a really interesting point. Why isn't the BLM movement condemning the arsons of businesses and the death of police officers of their own communities? I genuinely would like to know why some people are crying for justice for some but not others.

[Dukasaur]

A lot of black businesses destroyed, and Black Lives Matter doesn't seem to be much interested in doing anything about it.

This is actually a really interesting point. Why isn't the BLM movement condemning the arsons of businesses and the death of police officers of their own communities? I genuinely would like to know why some people are crying for justice for some but not others.

I suspect it's because they're focused on the greater threat.

A riot which is going to do some (admittedly serious) damage to a community might come around once every 20 years or so. Not to minimize how serious it is, but it is a transitory thing from which the community will recover.

The fear of coming to a tragic end through overzealous law enforcement, however, is something that never goes away.

I was listening to an interview on NPR yesterday. Black kid, honour student, on his school's track team. Preparing for a track meet, goes out for a run on the street. Out of the blue, a white woman zips across the lane, blocks his path, and yells, "Why are you running? Did you just rob that store back there?" Seriously. She sees a black kid running down the street, and the first thought in her head is not that he might preparing for a track meet, not that he might be running to catch up with some friends, not that he might be running just because he's loaded with youthful energy, but that he must have robbed a store.

When you combine the probability of being falsely accused of a crime, with the probability of being falsely convicted, with the probability that you won't even get to court but will be killed either while being arrested or while in custody, it adds up to a a tremendous burden of fear that blacks face every single time they go out of the door.

Living in constant fear is debilitating. It's a constant weight that one carries, not unlike chronic pain or some serious medical condition. The riots and the damage they do will be healed. The effects of knowing you're in the crosshairs every time you step out the door is not likely to. I can't speak for the BLM people, of course, but I think they've made a reasonable determination of which is the greater threat to their lives.

[HitRed]

Is BLM a movement, umbrella name for different groups, or an organization?


Organization being: headquarters, full time leadership, published list of goals.

[saxitoxin]

Is BLM a movement, umbrella name for different groups, or an organization?


Organization being: headquarters, full time leadership, published list of goals.

Movement.

Once someone is willing to start fronting donations, then one of the self-appointed leaders of the community - like Jesse Jackson Jr. - will step up and turn it into a formal organization for the million-dollar payday (e.g. here, here, etc.); a $500K per year job as the Executive Director of a group with a $1MM budget.

That's why we have never had to - and will never have to - worry about changes to the status quo no matter how big it becomes; all money will simply go to line the pockets of the leadership, only the crumbs will go to things that might threaten social norms. And we can sweep up crumbs, no problemo, until it's eventually mismanaged into insolvency. So it has been in the past, so it will be in the future. Always now and forever.