Xatticus wrote:I can't speak for Isaac, but I'm fairly certain that you are misinterpreting his position. I have no doubt that this is something that he gave a great deal of consideration to before he took the action that he did. I think it took a lot of courage for Isaac to do what he did. I mean, once the corporations pick a side, you know you are well beyond the point of debate. As a white male, I don't think there is any chance that I would've done what Isaac did simply for fear of my actions being misinterpreted as my signaling support for something that I don't (opposition to the ongoing protests). I worry that the bump in jersey sales is an indication of precisely this.
Yeah, I'm afraid the jersey sales are representative of the population seeing him standing as anti-BLM. I hope he says explains more after he undoubtedly will get asked about it again today.
Xatticus wrote:As an acolyte of Chomsky and an admitted anarchist (probably doesn't mean what you think it does), I personally detest the name of Black Lives Matter. That said, I'm hopeful that something good comes from this just the same. For me, BLM amounts to racial border patrolling. I don't like how protests against social injustices have been co-opted by a group whose very name portrays this as black vs. white or black vs. blue. There is certainly a pervasive racial component to inequality in this country, but social injustice is far more complex than this. You aren't fighting for equality if you are only fighting for the rights of one subgroup of the population. This might not be what BLM advocates, but it's name certainly implies as much.
Appreciate the thoughtful response. As for BLM being divisive or implicitly black vs white, black lives matter (the name and the movement) says nothing about other subsets of people - that's an internal assumption of the movement and/or the deflective work of the All Lives Matter / Blue Lives Matter crews. No one thinks breast cancer awareness is pitting breast cancer vs prostate cancer - it's simply raising awareness about one at the current time. I agree that social injustice is far more complex than making the system equal for just black Americans, but it's a great place to start - by making things equal for black Americans, it will likely make things equal for others as well. Sounds like you agree with the sentiment here, just not the labeling of "Black Lives Matter".
In case you or anyone is curious, feel free to check out the official stance/mission statement of Black Lives Matter here:
https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/.
Just a couple snippets that speak to BLM being inclusive and not divisive:
"We work vigorously for freedom and justice for Black people and, by extension, all people."
"We acknowledge, respect, and celebrate differences and commonalities."
"We are unapologetically Black in our positioning. In affirming that Black Lives Matter, we need not qualify our position. To love and desire freedom and justice for ourselves is a prerequisite for wanting the same for others."
