We had one, it was called Black Lives Matter and since then we had the most virulent counterreaction to any movement since Reconstruction - ThreadSky

kleinman.bsky.social • 75 days ago

We had one, it was called Black Lives Matter and since then we had the most virulent counterreaction to any movement since Reconstruction

Reposted from Joe Katz

That Daniel Penny and Daniel Perry and Kyle Rittenhouse and George Zimmerman are all walking around free in the most carceral nation in the world is something that demands a reckoning.

Comments

cynde.bsky.social•75 days ago

White men are going down fighting

headlong42.bsky.social•75 days ago

*going to kill everyone

cynde.bsky.social•75 days ago

Yep they’ll take a bunch down on their way out

andydashiell.bsky.social•75 days ago

The counter reaction to the Civil Rights, Voting Rights, and Fair Housing Acts - along w the societal changes wrt the roles and rights of women - was similarly virulent. It begat the Powell Memo and Reagan, from which all nastiness flows.

hawkbirdguy.bsky.social•75 days ago

Of all the retrospectives around "what went wrong for the Dems in 2024" I personally have seen 0 that talk about the positive effect that BLM apparently had on the 2020 election.

Big contrast around public dialogue between summer '20 and summer '24

maartenklimt.bsky.social•75 days ago

Read this https://crimethinc.com/2024/11/20/the-case-for-resistance-what-were-up-against-and-what-it-could-look-like-to-fight

hawkbirdguy.bsky.social•75 days ago

I'll check it out, thanks!

voncey.bsky.social•75 days ago

"Defund the police" had to be the mostly politically tone-deaf slogan in the history of US politics. Not that any mainstream Democrat used it but they got tagged with it anyway.

hawkbirdguy.bsky.social•75 days ago

This is very true, but also they could have used any slogan ever and it would have become a pariah (see the diff in polling between "Obamacare" v. "ACA" or "white privilege" v. "white bias")

But your point remains very true. Hard to defend that slogan to a normie

guste.wtf•75 days ago

And the real problem is that the slogan is absolutely correct. I understand that doesn't make it smart to use but we should reckon with the fact that the police absolutely are overfunded.

tylerh3.bsky.social•75 days ago

Absolutely 💯 just because it’s electorally toxic doesn’t mean it’s wrong

thelongshot2112.bsky.social•75 days ago

The problem is, every time people looked for an alternative framing, it just didn't cover the issue. Reform The Police? That ties you to previous attempts to reform the police that have failed.

Many police departments are too big and don't address the issues that lead to crime.

toasty.cx•75 days ago

Defund was the lib compromise slogan anyway

The real original slogan was ABOLISH the police which is still required and more aggressive

sarachim.bsky.social•75 days ago

“Defund the police” isn’t a Democratic slogan, it’s a protest demand. If the Democrats’ plan is “make it so nobody who disagrees with us protests us,” they are going to lose every time.

kurtpaints.bsky.social•75 days ago

It was lucky timing for Dems that Trump was in office during the murder of George Floyd. They co-opted the movement, then abandoned the cause. Biden presided over record highs oinpolice violence and funding.

readjack.bsky.social•75 days ago

Did you see this? From @eladn.bsky.social:

https://eladnehorai.substack.com/p/the-deeper-reasons-democrats-lost

hawkbirdguy.bsky.social•75 days ago

I did not! Will read, thank you!

rodneynookey.bsky.social•75 days ago

This was good read

readjack.bsky.social•75 days ago

It's outstanding. I've been thinking about it since.

aeromunch.bsky.social•75 days ago

People also seem to overlook the fact that the Democrats completely abandoned this cause. Kamala ran on a "I'm tough on crime and support law enforcement" platform

thelongshot2112.bsky.social•75 days ago

I don't think they ever embraced it because it was tied to "defund the police", which was tied to the party even tho they never agreed to it, or use it in campaigns. Also, it never hurts a candidate to support law enforcement.

aeromunch.bsky.social•75 days ago

Right, the Dems go "it never hurts to support the cops" after watching nationwide protests where people wanted an end to police violence and CHUDs said "if cops can't kill black people you're anti cop"

then when everyone stays home they go

thelongshot2112.bsky.social•75 days ago

The problem is the "thin blue line" narrative is pretty strong in this country. Many police departments cast themselves as the only thing preventing lawlessness, and anyone who threatens that is going to have a tough time of it.

thelongshot2112.bsky.social•75 days ago

Even in Minneapolis, the epicenter of all this, still has challenges.
https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-police-chief-said-he-contemplated-his-future-during-fallout-from-neighborhood-shooting/601181330

aeromunch.bsky.social•75 days ago

I'm sure they'll listen to James Carville or some other ancient advisor and go More Conservative to attract the massive "Republicans who want to vote for a Democrat with Republican Lite policies"

xarthras.bsky.social•75 days ago

And Biden mandated the building of cop cities to train police in urban warfare. Hard to imagine a bigger middle finger he could have given that movement.

hawkbirdguy.bsky.social•75 days ago

Yeah. As with every issue, their messaging was a jumbled mess of measured "we need to change the way we think of law enforcement broadly" and incoherent "we also love/hate cops" positions.

Meanwhile the GOP went all in on "Dems love crime, ignore our crimelord candidate" and it worked

willarther.bsky.social•75 days ago

Didn’t he say “Don’t defund the police, FUND the police” in his first SotU address?

b00ster.bsky.social•75 days ago

The criminal justice reform movement never even had a narrative for how they were going to cope with anything other than the sort of long period of dropping crime rates we saw since the 90’s until the post Covid rise in crime.

rivertalesien.bsky.social•75 days ago

BLM *should* have been that reckoning, except, you know, white people being so deeply programmed into our whiteness. 😒

levnekov.bsky.social•75 days ago

the people who use "reckoning" increasingly treat it as functionally equivalent to failed apocalypse prophecies, which is extremely disheartening

towit12.bsky.social•75 days ago

How is it not?

levnekov.bsky.social•75 days ago

it is, and I wish I had the juice to write out a cogent outline of a crit of this concept of salvation

dawnddurante.bsky.social•75 days ago

Again, they “mischarged” Zimmerman. He would have been found guilty if they charged manslaughter. (says life long defense atty.)

culturalmarks.bsky.social•75 days ago

Zimmerman used a gun. Guns are lethal weapons you can't accidentally kill someone with an intentional gun shot.

dawnddurante.bsky.social•75 days ago

My recollection is that it came out in the trial that they were rolling on the ground wrestling for the gun. But it’s a heated subject & I’m taking a break from criminal cases.

heyapm.bsky.social•75 days ago

Welp

ph00tbag.bsky.social•74 days ago

Dunno how much of a reckoning it was. We got Juneteenth and the most racially insensitive congressional photo op of my lifetime.

itsauntiemarie.bsky.social•75 days ago

It’s called the civil rights shuffle. You slide to the left, take one step forward, then the outrage from your modest moves has the rest of the country sliding 10 times to the right and 150 years worth of steps back.

The majority needs to remind the minority that in fact our lives don’t matter.

penfoldsfiv.bsky.social•75 days ago

remember when the NBA was about to strike until Obama stepped in and told them to get back on the court?

saidthat.bsky.social•75 days ago

Add Trump to that list

girinero.bsky.social•74 days ago

Wasn’t a reckoning by any definition.

darius101.bsky.social•75 days ago

The BLM protests with teens, grannies, multi ethnic people protesting a murder everyone saw on TV, in the eyes of the white power structure, was an uprising; an insurrection if you will. Hence Trump's desire to use the insurrection act.
Why do you think they've outlawed teaching American history?

delbertgseasons.bsky.social•75 days ago

The Pro-Palestinian movement is taking a run at that title

kaiserbrown.bsky.social•75 days ago

Also in some small part the backlash to it ironically helped Trump with young male voters of color by reinforcing that the Democrats who supported BLM were too woke and thus didn't really care about those young male voters.

recovering-teacher.bsky.social•75 days ago

Then the reckoning isn’t over.

demfelicia.bsky.social•75 days ago

Americans are shitty.

aaronblackshear.bsky.social•75 days ago

The whole country rose up and said the police have to stop beating people up and killing them, and in response they beat up and killed more people and then we all went home and back to work

leatherhiphuggers.bsky.social•75 days ago

From BLM protests arose performative "protests" and fake outrage from performative "activists and BLM protests were considered riots.. others were protests.

The radio silence is quite loud since the narrative controllers now control the WH... and it's already backfiring. Congrats America.

leterel.bsky.social•75 days ago

Mostly back to work

oswaldphaygood.bsky.social•75 days ago

It inspired an insurrection, because we never punished the first insurrectionists back in 1865. We'll keep doing this until they finally have to pay.

nefariousmeans.bsky.social•75 days ago

Our "allies" hijacked it, turned it into "defund the police," and destroyed it.

nefariousmeans.bsky.social•75 days ago

For those interested, the replies to this are a good source for blocking leftist saboteurs.

fractus.bsky.social•75 days ago

Ah, but once you block them, we can't see em ourselves to block!

nefariousmeans.bsky.social•75 days ago

I didn't realize that. I thought it was like to old place. I'll have to keep that in mind.

daniele-gaither.bsky.social•75 days ago

I just blocked several. But I’m about to follow you. 😊

joshdobbin.bsky.social•75 days ago

🎯🎯

kimbere2531.bsky.social•75 days ago

True.

mithos343.bsky.social•75 days ago

I keep thinking how the backlash to the 2020 George Floyd protests is something that is going to continue for a long time.

ashtheticart.bsky.social•75 days ago

I do wonder when it's going to happen again, what the last straw that leads to protest is gonna be. I say "when" because racist police brutality that results in murder is as frequent as mass shootings because America is a very chill & normal country.

flamingogrrl.bsky.social•75 days ago

Truth! 🙏

stogachess.bsky.social•75 days ago

The counter reaction to civil rights was much worse

dawnalene.bsky.social•75 days ago

And currently, #MeToo is facing a backlash

kleinman.bsky.social•75 days ago

Yup

jiabiangou.bsky.social•58 days ago

Post menopause women/mothers with young sons are the most powerful, merciless, anti-feminist. We men just enjoy our popcorn.

bcvet.bsky.social•75 days ago

I often wonder if adding the simple word "too" would have decreased the ability of that counter reaction to take hold:

Black Lives Matter, Too

That would have addressed the "concerns" of of the "Blue Lives Matter" and "Black lives aren't more valuable than others!" wing nuts.

bobson-dugnutt.bsky.social•75 days ago

The idea that counterreaction would be prevented by better messaging is painfully naive. The people mad about this aren’t worked up about the specific word choices, they’re mad about being asked to acknowledge black people at all

demfelicia.bsky.social•75 days ago

Exactly.

bcvet.bsky.social•75 days ago

I hear you and sadly agree.

I just wonder if it would have slowed anyone down, even a little.

rahabim.bsky.social•75 days ago

The phrase "All Lives Matter" was used solely to say it was fine that the police torture, rob and kill people for fun.

bcvet.bsky.social•75 days ago

Point acknowledged.

With a lot of sadness.

mangeleriche.bsky.social•74 days ago

BLM was a national movement to suck the democratic party’s dick. Fuck them, disrespectfully. I come from STL next to Ferguson. They stole our moment to make millions and left us dead and in jail. And then just voted democrat like they don’t also have cops kill us. FUCK BLM

bballbreakdown.bsky.social•75 days ago

Also the Me Too movement. A double whammy of a pendulum swing that could set progress back multiple decades

joekatz45.bsky.social•75 days ago

*sigh*

kleinman.bsky.social•75 days ago

The era of easy viral posts is over, the era of grappling with what this country will support has begun

joekatz45.bsky.social•75 days ago

But that's way harder than the easy thing!

joekatz45.bsky.social•75 days ago

When do you all start gearing up for Virginia/New Jersey?

maggiemarbles.bsky.social•75 days ago

You can start now. Virginia's List is the PAC for Democratic women running for the House of Delegates and in local races. And Postcards to Voters is doing cards for a Virginia special election in January. There's an open seat because a state legislator is going to Congress.

maggiemarbles.bsky.social•75 days ago

(I'm not sure if basic "hey, there's an election" outreach does anything in presidential years, but I think it's important for special and off-year elections that people might miss otherwise.)

squizzradical.bsky.social•75 days ago

It was one of the biggest social movements since Civil Rights, I had read somewhere. Then I thought about the Gay Rights Movement, and wondered who counted all those people.

sherex.bsky.social•75 days ago

The me too movement was met pretty harshly, we currently have an administration that wants sexual assault to be a prerequisite for employment. Some of the policy writers are questioning if women should even be allowed to vote.

posts.by.emilyk.art•75 days ago

disagree there - churches were being blown up in the Civil Rights Era, but the overall point stands. The Civil War never ended, just changed clothes

toasty.cx•75 days ago

It's cuz we never did proper reconstruction, we just let the slave owning southern gentry hold levers of power again and it's fucked us ever since

daspence.bsky.social•75 days ago

Did you forget the 2015 Charleston Church shooting and the 2022 Buffalo Tops shooting?

posts.by.emilyk.art•75 days ago

So then “since reconstruction” isn’t accurate. Since the 60s. This shit didn’t take a pause for a hundred years

shrimpmeatmom.bsky.social•75 days ago

I don’t know if it’s correct, but I also don’t think it’s unreasonable to argue that the reelection of Trump is more significant and damaging than anything that has happened since reconstruction.

alexkingsbury.bsky.social•75 days ago

TBD

tylerh3.bsky.social•75 days ago

Idk there’s Reagan

shrimpmeatmom.bsky.social•75 days ago

Reagan was horrible, but electing him wasn’t anti-social in relation to the culture.

dysamoria.com•75 days ago

Correct, it never ended. It became a Cold War, and there are currently a lot of nutcases whipped up into a frenzy to start it up as a hot war again.

mmathog.bsky.social•75 days ago

I wonder if cops will start finally working now, so far looks like “no”.

discordantmuse.bsky.social•75 days ago

I say this out of ignorance, but didn't the Democrats hijack BLM to take the piss out of it? Like they do every other socially equitable movement?

queenky2323.bsky.social•75 days ago

why are you putting those
4 in the same box...that is so frustrating to me

wheeleyme.com•75 days ago

Literally every town in my area had a protest, down to one zip code places that reliably vote right. And it had the effect of a creampie dropped from a stepladder

bampers.bsky.social•75 days ago

I still think about the 2017 Women's March. Literally, *literally* the largest protest in American history to that point, only then superceded by BLM. No tangible goals. No results. The power learned that if you don't push back against protest, it fails on its own accord. So fucking disappointing.

binderyman.bsky.social•75 days ago

maggiemarbles.bsky.social•75 days ago

The Women's March got us the 2018 midterms. After that, though, the other side stepped up to match it. So we need to activate the next big group. We were hoping it was young voters, but too many of the young men didn't come along with us.

missqarnstein.bsky.social•75 days ago

No you need a strategy that doesn't entirely depend on the system. A movement that keeps together and doesn't dissolve after one fucking vote. And something that can be turned into an army if the Fascists rig the system so you couldn't unrig it by voting.

pacemaker64.bsky.social•75 days ago

A popular movement needs a political agenda or it will be coopted/fizzle out. This is why education is important prep work for when spontaneous revolts do happen, to guide that energy into productive endeavors.

wallyballou.bsky.social•75 days ago

The Socialist Equality Party has a political program. And they will not be co-opted. Their website, updated every day except Sunday, is https://WSWS.org.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/12/02/pers-d02.html

pnnchicago.bsky.social•75 days ago

The counter to the counter revolution will be hard

imlampe.bsky.social•74 days ago

Calling Black Lives Matter a reckoning is like calling women voting treason. The "counteraction" was business as usual in most of this country, the people doing it just didn't have that much attention on them before. Even then you could see them if you looked. Tea Party, 3%, Arian Nation, etc.

stretch14tw.bsky.social•75 days ago

Dem presidential candidate in 2024 ran on being a prosecutor lmao

urbanwonkenobi.bsky.social•75 days ago

#OccupyRockefellerCenter #YourFriendlyNeighborhoodSquatter

moray76.bsky.social•75 days ago

I think they lost a lot of goodwill when some spokespersons refused to admit that ALL lives matter. Why turn off potential allies?

arahman97.bsky.social•75 days ago

Why is Ride To Conquer Cancer alienating potential allies?

ogdavisxmachina.bsky.social•75 days ago

People have forgotten the breadth and scope of those protests...

https://www.wabi.tv/content/news/Dozens-attend-Black-Lives-Matter-protest-in-Monmouth-571078651.html

semisocialr.bsky.social•75 days ago

Well said. No notes. And sad for our nation. We need to do better.

scottmellon.bsky.social•75 days ago

January 09 [Obama sworn in]
February 09 [Tea Party founded]

mashamasha.bsky.social•75 days ago

This is what started it imo. And I'll die mad about it. 2008 was the second election I voted in. We were a swing state. Both candidates came to my city and I took my then 13yo son to both rallies. Turnout was 80k at the Obama one. The other rally filled a high school gym. This was the country I had

mashamasha.bsky.social•75 days ago

immigrated to in the hopes for better future for myself and my kids. And the right started undermining that hope and future for the most gross reasons imaginable pretty much the next day after he took office.

A coworker of mine took PTO and traveled to the inauguration, from a far suburb of

mashamasha.bsky.social•75 days ago

Cleveland where she lives. Back then I thought "what a goofy way to spend your time and energy" but now I think I should've gone too. We will never see anything like it again in my lifetime. Not even Obama himself, who turned out to be right of center, but the nation coming together around him.

tylerh3.bsky.social•75 days ago

Civil rights and anti Vietnam movement says hi. But yeah in the last 40 years I’d say

joshuak08.bsky.social•75 days ago

Goddamn truer words…

dennycarter.bsky.social•75 days ago

How does one forget about the national racial justice reckoning we had four years ago

mirishikiarisdiary.bsky.social•75 days ago

Didn't forget when it all started in 2012 and pushed on forward.

kabbiearlish.bsky.social•75 days ago

The same way people forgot about the one 10 years ago.

joekatz45.bsky.social•75 days ago

I promise you, I didn't forget.

discordantmuse.bsky.social•75 days ago

Because killing racialized (specifically black) folks out of perceived fears is an act that's been normalized in the US.

myleslobdell.bsky.social•75 days ago

I think the MeToo movement can be seen as part of the same pattern. If stronger among VCs and in Silicon Valley.

estrusflask.bsky.social•75 days ago

I think we need a reckoning that is successful.

nickwidzowski.bsky.social•75 days ago

There’s so much to be said about all phases of BLM, but one piece I feel that has been memory holed are the two to three weeks between the announcement that Pantaleo wasn’t being indicted and the two cops being shot in their squad car. There was a HUGE groundswell building then too.

egality.bsky.social•75 days ago

I mean, you were advocating for political support of that counterreaction, as a lesser evil, what are you even saying.

dqspider.bsky.social•75 days ago

if you want to make people mad, suggest that black people are in any way equivalent to white people

ashtheticart.bsky.social•75 days ago

It's funny how white people have to insist they're simultaneously the average Default Setting AND the special boy Ubermenschs of humanity.

mashamasha.bsky.social•75 days ago

I think the Default Setting narrative is the worst and is also one of the reasons we lost this election. She didn't look like a President would in half the country's heads. Now they say this like "she would've laughed and giggled through a nuclear attack" but we all know what their real deal was.

starwards.bsky.social•75 days ago

This is what America gets for not letting General Sherman

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