To paraphrase Winston Churchill, now is not the end of Black Lives Matter. This isn’t even the beginning of the end. It is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
Never before has a movement gained such sudden acclaim, attention, and affection from both the media and pop culture. In the span of just a few weeks, Black Lives Matter became a devout religion in our country. You couldn’t dare criticize or question it. To do so would result in you immediately being labeled a heretic. I mean, a racist.
But eventually, the truth began to catch up with Black Lives Matter. As did the violence.
After an 8-year-old girl was shot near the infamous Atlanta Wendy’s over the weekend, her parents were understandably outraged.
"They say Black Lives Matter -- you killed your own,” her father said. “You killed your own this time.” During the subsequent city council meeting, councilmembers offered quotes like, “Black on Black killing, any killing that is unnecessary, they all matter,” and “If Black Lives Matter, they have to matter all the time.”
Previously, it was heresy to mention the tragic rate of black on black crime.
In addition, Fox Sports host Marcellus Wiley “spoke truth to power” when he said painting Black Lives Matter on NBA courts was a bad idea. The former NFL all-pro defensive end made two compelling arguments. First, he pointed out that this will simply increase identity politics. It will divide and polarize us. Then he acknowledged the 10,000-pound elephant in the room: Black Lives Matter as a national organization is run by Marxists who openly seek to destroy the nuclear family.
This is relevant since data shows that black children in single-parent homes fare much worse than those in a nuclear family.
“[Children in single-parent households] are five times more likely to commit suicide, six times more likely to be in poverty, nine times more likely to drop out of high school, 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances, 14 times more likely to commit rape, 20 times more likely to end up in prison, 32 times more likely to run away from home,” he said.
And while the NBA has yet to start playing, the English Premier League has been virtue signaling since soccer restarted in the UK a few weeks ago. Each player has worn a Black Lives Matter patch on their jersey and the phrase “Black Lives Matter” even replaced players' names on jerseys at one point. However, the backlash crossed the pond when the UK division of Black Lives Matter called for the overthrow of capitalism and an end to free trade with Israel. Since then, clubs and commentators have begun to distance themselves from the movement.
But then again, what is the Black Lives Matter movement? What do they stand for, exactly?
Perhaps never before has there been a movement with leadership that was so far removed ideologically from their grassroots members and corporate sponsors. Reasonable Americans are open to discussing reforms like banning chokeholds, demilitarizing the police, and ending qualified immunity. If you ask the average protester on the street, these are likely the sort of reforms they might want to see.
Unfortunately, if you research the leaders or look at their mission statement, they are clearly Marxists. They don’t even try to hide it.
Will the real Black Lives Matter please stand up? If you stand for equality and for real reform, we’ll stand with you. But if you stand for Marxism, violence, and destruction, you will stand alone.
Adam Guillette is the president of Accuracy in Media, www.aim.org.