Black Lives Matter

 

What does Black Lives Matter mean?

Black Lives Matter is a phrase, and notably a hashtag, used to highlight racism, discrimination and inequality experienced by black people.

Its use grew in the US after high-profile killings by police, but it has also been used in the UK and elsewhere.

Supporters point to the fact that black people are much more likely to be shot by police in the US. They say that in the US and many other countries, they also suffer many other forms of discrimination.

They want action to address unequal treatment and oppression that goes all the way back to the era of slavery, but which continues today.

How has Black Lives Matter grown?
The slogan was widely used after the death of Trayvon Martin in Florida, in 2012. The unarmed black 17-year-old was shot by neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.

Support grew following other police killings, including Eric Garner, who died in a chokehold, and Michael Brown, who was killed by an officer who said he acted in self-defence.


In the summer of 2020 George Floyd, an unarmed black man, was murdered by a police officer who knelt on his neck.

TWITTER/RUTH RICHARDSON, George Floyd repeatedly told the police officers who detained him that he could not breathe


Protests using the #BLM slogan took place worldwide and the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was used tens of millions of times.

In the UK, anti-racism demonstrations were attended by hundreds of thousands of people.


Why have people criticised Black Lives Matter?
Some people argue that using the term Black Lives Matter demonstrates support for an organisation of the same name. It was started in 2013 by three black women: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi.

Among its main goals are stopping police brutality and fighting for courts to treat black people equally. Its demands for equality also include mental health, the LGBT community and voting rights.


However, former US secretary of housing and developments Ben Carson, said people with noble aims had been taken advantage of by a "Marxist-driven organisation" that supports "taking down the model of Western family structures".


Carol Swain, a political commentator and former professor, said: "They are using black people to advance a Marxist agenda."  

TO READ MORE ABOUT BLACK LIVES MATTER, CLICK HERE...

Because of BLM...

 I am more keenly aware of black people than ever before and now I see them as different than me in so many ways and that even though we are still Americans, we are different type Americans...  

White people live in their own communities while black people live in their own communities.  White people go to their own churches while black people go to their own churches.  Wherever I go, I always see more whites than blacks whether that is to:

• Walmart
• Lowes
• A shopping Mall
• A movie theater
• Myrtle Beach, SC
• Most restaurant
• Best Buy
• Weigel's Convenience Store
• UT Medical Center
• UT Cancer Center
• Our family clinic
• Toyota repair center
• Douglas or Cherokee Lakes
• RV camping areas
• Kohls

Before, I would not have paid any attention to what black people were doing, but now, and because of BLM and all the violence that I see surrounding BLM, I am more aware of black people around me and more cautious when I am around them and the violence they might follow.

The more that Critical Race Theory is pushed in our school systems, the more I AM AGAINST what it teaches and the fact that it is separating blacks and whites...  and, painting us as two separate and distinct races...

I don't really care if black see me as the oppressor and see themselves as the oppressed because I am not changing my behavior for them or for anyone else.  In short, I want to avoid anything that has to do with blacks and focus on the white race and what we have accomplished as a race without the help of the blacks.

WAKE UP AMERICA...

Black Homes Are Undervalued - Racism at Work

 From Rice Kinder
Institute for Urban Research...

New research shows that 50 years after laws were put in place to stop the use of race in real estate appraisals, homes in neighborhoods of color are still being undervalued.

New research into how a neighborhood’s home values are impacted by its racial composition reveals that appraisals were affected to a larger extent by race in 2015 than in 1980 — to the financial detriment of homeowners in majority-Black and majority-Hispanic neighborhoods.

Using Census Bureau data from 1980–2015, the study from Junia Howell and Elizabeth Korver-Glenn shows that during that period, homes in white neighborhoods appreciated in value, on average, almost $200,000 more than comparable homes in neighborhoods of color.

Primarily, the reason for the large disparity lies in “contemporary appraisal practices,” according to Howell and Korver-Glenn; in particular, “the use of the sales comparison approach has allowed historical racialized appraisals to influence contemporary values and appraisers’ racialized assumptions about neighborhoods to drive appraisal methods.”

Howell, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, and Korver-Glenn, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of New Mexico — both of whom are former Kinder Scholars — summarized their study for the Conversation:  TO READ MORE, CLICK HERE...

PERSONAL OPINION:  I like the idea that people are now recognizing that homes in black neighborhoods are still being undervalued...  and I hope someone of importance realizes what is going on and SEEKS TO CHANGE IT...  Why do I want this changed?

1.  Black should pay higher property taxes just like whites have to pay

2.  Whites have been discriminated against for years by paying higher property taxes

3.  Black neighborhoods are no different than white neighborhoods

4.  Thank you Critical Race Theory

I have been complaining for years about having to pay higher and higher property taxes and the fact that my higher taxes are a result of me being white...  If I was black my home would be undervalued and my property taxes would be less.  Yes, it is true that if and when I decided to sell my home, I would not get a higher price for it, but I do not plan to ever sell my home so that point is irrelevant.

Finally, I feel blessed and extremely fortunate that the BLM movement has finally brought this to our attention and I hope that someone somewhere finally does something about it.  My black neighbors have been skating through lower taxes for years and it is time that they finally get assessed properly...

Consider this...

 HOW HAS BLACK LIVES MATTER MADE BLACK LIVES BETTER?

Please list all that apply:

1.  

2.

3.

4.

5.

Can't think of anything... except maybe,

Defunding the police and

Killing white cops...

WHY... Why... why?

WHY are not more WEALTHY AMERICAN BLACKS joining with BLM movement with personal appearances as well as giving money???

We have thousands of wealthy AMERICAN BLACKS who have made their money in Hollywood, Popular Music, Professional Athletics, and in business and the only AMERICAN BLACKS that I see protesting are the ones WHO ARE NOT WEALTHY...

It would help me understand it better if WEALTHY AMERICAN BLACKS join the BLM movement with their physical appearance and participation...  I would like to see them RIOTING, LOOTING, and PROTESTING because then and only then would I believe that they are SERIOUS and that the BLM movement is serious and not just a bunch of radical dissidents.