Another perspective on BLM/Bernie

[Blue_In_AK]

I think this is very well written, and he says what I, as a white woman, apparently can't. I'm not familiar with Benjamin Dixon, but on this, I agree with him. Please read the whole piece.

http://www.ifyouonlynews.com/politics/opinion-since-white-people-cant-lecture-the-blacklivesmatter-movement-allow-me/

OPINION: SINCE WHITE PEOPLE CAN’T LECTURE THE #BLACKLIVESMATTER MOVEMENT, ALLOW ME

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This hashtag spoke louder than any of their well-meaning intentions wrapped in their ear-piercing tantrums on Saturday. The gall of anyone to demand another bow down and completely submit to their demands reeks of delusions of grandeur and immaturity. Allyship is not one group being subservient to another. This applies to both sides of the equation. No one has to bow down to anyone else. And the fact that they have this idea in their heads suggests that Marissa Johnson and Mara Willaford –and anyone justifying their behavior –do not yet understand nuances and tension that are birthed from true equality. And yet, this hashtag encapsulates perfectly the difference between what happened at Netroots Nation and Seattle.

Netroots Nation was disruptive, uncomfortable, strategic and effective. It forced the hand of all of the major candidates and strengthened the position of BLM leaders. At that moment, BLM did something that not even the Civil Rights movement was able to accomplish. They grabbed the agenda of a political party by the throat and let it be known that black votes could never again be taken for granted. Any candidate who wanted the support of black voters could no longer push black issues to the background. I applauded that action because it was significant both from an ideological and a politically pragmatic perspective and was brilliantly done.

BLM had the attention and the agenda of the Democratic Party. Unless orders were sent to Seattle from national BLM leaders to shut Bernie down because he wasn’t listening to them at the negotiating table at which all of their previous actions had given them priority, then there was nothing strategic about the actions on Saturday. If Marissa Johnson and Mara Willaford’s received no so such instructions then their actions amounted to nothing more than a temper tantrum that undermined their own goals.

And to see so-called leaders in our community vilify the response of Bernie Sanders’ crowd without holding Marissa Johnson and Mara Willaford for their own actions is as wrong as white progressives ignoring the actions of police officers that directly created the conditions that led to the deaths of so many African-Americans. You cannot divorce outcomes from the actions that directly led to that outcome. The mission of Black Lives Matter is unquestionably noble. Nevertheless, we cannot lay down principle and reason simply because we agree with the cause.

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