Comment by jahaja
5 years ago
> There is a 501(c)(3) called the "Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation." That organization created the slogan "black lives matter." That organization has leaders. They're Marxists.
So? If there's a Yellow Vests non-profit started in France that has its own charter and leaders doesn't make the yellow vest somehow within that group in any practical sense.
What's your point trying to make this Marxist connection if there's indeed just some what you call leaders with Marxist connections? I mean you're saying that you're unsure if "black lives matter" includes Marxism?
When presenting an argument that has to do with determining characteristics of a group of people (e.g., the philosophical tenets of a movement), it is fallacious to cherry-pick who is and is not a real or representative member of that group. The founders of this group are indeed members and their views cannot be hand-waved away.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman
Leaders and policy planks matter. Leaders guide thought and policy. Support for a movement empowers that movement’s leaders. In this case, it is empowering people who say things like “capitalism is essentially racist.” https://www.city-journal.org/how-to-be-an-antiracist. The vast majority of protestors may not agree, but it’s the leaders that are giving speeches and writing the books that are included in reading lists and school curriculums.
These people make concrete conjectures, such as "the capital gains tax preference" (which is nearly universal in the developed world and widely supported by economists) "is racist." And they make concrete policy proposals, such as the following (remember the author has previously defined the capital gains preference to be racist):
> [The anti-racist amendment] would establish and permanently fund the Department of Anti-racism (DOA) comprised of formally trained experts on racism and no political appointees. The DOA would be responsible for preclearing all local, state and federal public policies to ensure they won’t yield racial inequity, monitor those policies, investigate private racist policies when racial inequity surfaces, and monitor public officials for expressions of racist ideas. The DOA would be empowered with disciplinary tools to wield over and against policymakers and public officials who do not voluntarily change their racist policy and ideas.
The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation has fewer than 20 chapters.[1] They lead a small part of the Black Lives Matter movement. Ibram X. Kendi doesn't lead the organization or the movement as far as I can tell.
[1] https://blacklivesmatter.com/chapters/
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