Everything wrong with the Black Lives Matter movement

We live in an age where the racial divide is growing. Tensions are further provoked by extensive news coverage and viral videos being uploaded and shared among social media outlets: anti-political corrective rhetoric,the burning of the American flag, the killing of black men by police, both justified and unjustified, and the list goes on and on.

Out of the controversy, a movement and organization consisting predominantly of young black people but not lacking in white members and minorities who agree with the cause, has dominated national news coverage and gained wide support and justification throughout the nation.

On the other hand, the Black Lives Matter movement has also been largely condemned by an increasing amount of Americans, principally for their methods of protest.

{mosads}Although It’s no secret that the Black Lives Matter movement has been met with heavy criticism for their tactics, it is important to acknowledge those in the movement who opt for more peaceful and more effective means of protest, reminiscent of the Civil Rights Movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King five decades ago.

Subsequently, the rampant destruction of both public and private property through American cities is not mutually exclusive with Black Lives Matter. Not yet anyway. We cannot, however, overlook the fact that presently a shocking number of members and affiliates are continuing to engage in violent behavior that is outright counterproductive to what they are trying to achieve. Let’s illustrate…

For instance, whenever two individuals are engaged in an argument, typically the outcome is one comes out the winner, but both parties (hopefully) walk away more knowledgeable and open-minded than they were before.

Although many arguments can be spawned solely due to pride or ego, the universal purpose of the art of arguing is to educate the other and make them see the logic and truth to your point of view or reasoning.

There are a few human behaviors that can be detrimental to this end; condescension, and even more so inimical is sheer lack of respect. If at any point in a discussion one party feels insulted or disrespected, they automatically become considerably less susceptible to the other parties validity, even if subconsciously. The offended party will be too focused on the fact that you insulted them than they will on the point you are trying to make. 

Essentially, as long as pride or ego are not involved, the administer of the insult does more damage to their mission of converting their adversary than anything else. 

In this illustration I am excluding when one party is using the other as a political platform to appeal to a large amount of people, as we often see in Presidential debates, especially in this past election. 

I don’t believe Black Lives Matter is engaging in these acts to appeal to their fans and certainly not the majority of Americans. Rather, they are venting their anger and frustration which has undoubtedly been aggravated and enabled by the Liberal Left.

The destruction of property, numerous burnings of American flags and violent acts against both civilians and law enforcement has not only been detrimental to the supposed purpose of the Black Lives Matter movement, but it has painted a picture of them in the eyes of the nation that they are doing little to change. 

And why would they?

The constant justification they are receiving from sympathizers and enablers is doing little else but encouraging these methods to actually increase, despite how ineffective history has shown such methods to actually be. 

Has progress been made? 

Is the end goal any closer to being within reach after everything that has happened thus far?

Evidently, quite the opposite. 

The Black Lives Matter movement overall has essentially bypassed the civil approach to an argument via antagonization and disrespect. From an objective, logical and historical outlook, they are setup to fail.

Why would the Left want any progress to be made anyway? 

They benefit from the controversy.

Their narrative is reinforced and more and more young minds are force fed a certain rhetoric prevalent in almost every form of social media. 

But the direct enablers on the left are not the only ones to blame for the apparent encouragement of these counterproductive methods. Many will refuse to condemn these actions for fear of being labeled a racist or at the very least, insensitive to racial injustice. Both consequences entail a social stigma that can potentially ruin relationships, careers and reputations.

It is far safer to join this sort of false crusade bereft of the common sense approach, because this same crusade will be quick to label you one of the many favorites that the Left likes to throw around: racist, bigoted, privileged, and far worse. 

This is a prime example of freedom of speech being attacked. Without the marketplace of free ideas, the attainment of knowledge is suppressed and ignorance, ineffectiveness and backwardness thrive.

Emotion has successfully, as it has so many times before, defeated any semblance of logic. Political figures benefit and encourage ineffective means of rioting and protests while successfully silencing a vast amount of Americans from speaking their minds with vile tactics.

It’s a new form of tyranny, and we can only hope that sooner than later history can be learned from and logic and freedom can counter the madness.

Brendan Bradley is a Philadelphia based political analyst and student.

The views expressed by Contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.