It’s a stark image — a young black adult with a message for white people. “Dear white people: Stop using Dr. King as an example of peaceful protests. You shot him, too.”
The message should trigger pause and feelings of regret about how difficult we’ve (“we” being white people) made it for black Americans to succeed, or even survive, in America. I shared the image on Facebook. It didn’t have that effect on my conservative friends.
That last message is my favorite.
But why did this image trigger such anger and resentment, and why did I share it in the first place? The post was made shortly after the Jacob Blake shooting and the ensuing protests. This was also after Kyle Rittenhouse shot and killed two protestors in Kenosha, Wisconsin. I share many politically-charged things on Facebook and get into heated exchanges with right-leaning people often. It’s nothing new. But this share triggered some very defensive responses. Why? Because there’s truth to it.
The right will say, “I support the right to protest, but [ fill in the excuse ]” They can fill in any excuse they wish to appear supportive, yet not be supportive at all:
- I support the right to protest, but I don’t support kneeling for our National Anthem.
- I support the right to protest, but I don’t support inconveniencing people.
- I support the right to protest, but I don’t support rallies during a declared Pandemic State of Emergency.
- I support the right to protest, but I don’t support ANTIFA.
The reality is that conservatives don’t care enough about what the protestors are fighting for if they blithely undermine every protest with an excuse. They are quick to tell people they disagree with that their method of protest is wrong, but they can never tell them what an acceptable form of protest is. The fact of the matter is there is no acceptable BLM protest that conservatives will get behind. That point was well illustrated by the following Twitter post:
Black Americans have struggled for equality since the founding of this country. They’ve met resistance from white conservatism the entire time. Political Party names have changed and flipped, but it has always been the same racial idealogy that resisted: white conservativism. I’m a white male, and I am pretty certain that the one thing the African American community needs from me is to listen.