The rise of BLM has greatly escalated the so-called “culture war” or “Cancel Culture movement”, with the movement led by its co-founders, Alicia Garza and Patrisse Cullors, both being self-declared Marxists, trained organisers and the latter a former member of the Weather Underground domestic terror organisation.
The organisation has used the terrible killing of George Floyd to promote a far-left agenda, attacking the history and culture of Western democracies.
In using the name Black Lives Matter, the founders have made it very difficult for people to question or criticise their movement without being slandered. The name is also very emotive to people in the black community. This has deceived both individuals and businesses, such as the Premier League, BBC and Sky News, into appearing to support the organisation. Companies have in some cases forced their employees to wear BLM items, such as badges. Some have since reversed this decision.
The street protests have been infiltrated by BLM and Antifa activists, who have vandalised and called for the removal of numerous statues across the UK and USA. BLM have attacked statues that are incredibly important to black history, such as Abraham Lincoln’s memorial in the UK, and the Emancipation Memorial and Fredrick Douglas’ statue in Capitol Hill and New York. They have also attacked national monuments like the Confederate statues in America, the World War II statue of Winston Churchill and the Cenotaph. Even the home of Charles Dickens, one of the most celebrated men in literary history, was vandalised by an ex-Councillor and BLM supporter.
The group have openly called for the defunding of the police and the dismantling of capitalism. The Movement of Black Lives, which has links to BLM, has called for reparations and the immediate release and record expungement of black criminals relating to the war on drugs and prostitution, amongst other stated aims. Both organisations have made anti-Semitic statements, leading to condemnation.
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These statues make up our history as nations. These people did both good deeds and bad, and we cannot judge history by modern-day standards. It is all part of our journey as a nation and a people; only by looking back at what others have done in the past can we see how we should proceed in the future. As George Santayana once said:
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”
The culture and foundation of our rules-based system is under attack from a loud and well-placed minority of people, who hate everything we stand for as a nation. They wish to replace our democratic and egalitarian institutions with ones based on a person’s race, gender and supposed privilege or oppression. This can only, and will only, lead to bitterness and division.
We need to find new and innovative ways to address grievances in the black community, as well as others. Statues should perhaps have plaques with an honest portrayal of the people depicted and our culture should represent people of all creeds, colours and genders. But that does not mean destroying our culture or history.
