# Is BLM real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 3, 2020, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923 "2020-04-03T00:18:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/1 "2020-04-03T00:18:06Z")
Within a day of the shooting of Michael Brown, witness testimony was already being quoted on Wikipedia stating that Brown seemed to have attacked the officer through the window of his car. Similarly, Philando Castile does not seem to have been the sort of person who, on a glance, would be likely to attract a lot of favorable presumption on the part of anyone looking at him (fairly or not). These were, the two big cases that really made the organization into a “real thing” where before it seems to have existed purely as a hashtag. Some time later, the case of [Botham Jean](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Botham_Jean) occurred. Unlike the previous cases, this seemed to be a genuine matter of a cop killing a black person simply for the reason that he was black. I thought at the time, “Ahah, this is the moment for BLM to finally move.” Nothing happened. The case isn’t even mentioned on the Wikipedia page: > **[Black Lives Matter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Lives_Matter)** > > Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police brutality and racially motivated violence against black people. It started following the killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Rekia Boyd, among others. The movement and its related organizations typically advocate for various policy changes c The movemen... Some time later, we began to hear many records of Russian organization of BLM events and strongly targeting African Americans with the aim of radicalizing them and convincing them to be more deeply skeptical of our government. Purportedly, Seattle is the home of the organizers of BLM. I saw a few signs in the city, for a few weeks, once upon a time. Never saw a march. Never saw any signs posted to organize a meetup. Granted, I might not have been in the right neighborhoods though it seems terribly unlikely that one wouldn’t post something in Capitol Hill of all places. Anyone have any particular reason to think that the group isn’t 2% a few people who are leading a real group that has, effectively, no practical reach and 98% Russian nonsense? I don’t endorse the view, but I am a sufficiently skeptical that I would prefer anecdotes of any interactions and personal activities over things written on the general web at large. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/2 "2020-04-03T16:24:07Z")
BLM is [very real](https://www.blm.gov). ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/3 "2020-04-03T18:28:59Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > BLM is [very real](https://www.blm.gov). It’s being worked on: > **[Inside the Trump Administration’s Chaotic Dismantling of the Federal Land Agency](https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-the-trump-administrations-chaotic-dismantling-of-the-federal-land-agency)** > > Internal records from the Bureau of Land Management contradict what its chief told Congress about a plan to ship 200 D.C.-based career staff out West. The plan would weaken the agency, which stands between federal lands and oil, gas and mineral... ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/4 "2020-04-03T20:59:19Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Some time later, we began to hear many records of Russian organization of BLM events and strongly targeting African Americans with the aim of radicalizing them and convincing them to be more deeply skeptical of our government. We did? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/5 "2020-04-03T21:03:42Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > We did? > **[The Mueller indictment offers new details on how Russian trolls stoked racial...](https://www.vox.com/2018/2/16/17021420/russia-indictments-mueller-elections-race-voter-fraud-police-violence)** > > Russian trolls used concerns about police violence and voter fraud to simultaneously court and attack communities of color. > **[Russian Trolls Were Obsessed With Black Lives Matter](https://slate.com/technology/2018/05/russian-trolls-are-obsessed-with-black-lives-matter.html)** > > A new cache of Facebook ads placed during and after the 2016 campaign shows how fervently they tried to provoke Americans over issues of race. [https://www.npr.org/2017/10/30/560042987/russians-targeted-u-s-racial-divisions-long-before-2016-and-black-lives-matter](https://www.npr.org/2017/10/30/560042987/russians-targeted-u-s-racial-divisions-long-before-2016-and-black-lives-matter) There is no shortage of articles on the subject. And, of course, we all read the [Mueller report](https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/18/mueller-report-ira-internet-research-agency/)…right? One might also note that the President seems to have decided that African Americans are a plum demographic to try and poach this year: [https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/29/trump-black-voters-cash-giveaways-108072](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/29/trump-black-voters-cash-giveaways-108072) Remember everyone saying that Clinton was stupid by focusing on all the groups she already had in the bag? ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/6 "2020-04-04T14:35:26Z")
Amber Guyger was charged, tried, and convicted of the murder of Botham Jean. That’s a pretty significant difference between that case and others that Black Lives Matter protests. On top of that BLM did protest about Botham Jean before Guyger was charged. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/7 "2020-04-05T14:57:39Z")
For the most part getting black people skeptical about government intentions is easier than getting white women into pumpkin spice. Russians definitely tried to add fuel to the fire, but for the most part Russians stirring up crap in American politics is taking coal to Newcastle. BLM has fallen off the radar screens because other news is dominating, as it gets closer to the election, I predict is will briefly come back into the limelight. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/8 "2020-04-05T15:00:51Z")
BLM has had and will probably always have trouble keeping people’s attention because, you know, that is the whole point of the movement, isn’t it? Why is it in any way surprising that no one is paying attention to it? ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/9 "2020-04-05T15:45:30Z")
Black Lives Matter(among many other things these days) has certainly fallen off the radar. I opened this thread thinking it was about the Bureau of Land Management. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/10 "2020-04-05T16:18:23Z")
me too. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/11 "2020-04-07T18:38:26Z")
Obviously Black Lives Matter is a real movement and not 98% the creation of Russians. (Rather, 98% of stories about how what the Russian trolls have supposedly done are bullshit.) However, it is certainly true, as **Bayaker** and others have noted, that the size and influence of Black Lives Matter has clearly shrunken. For a short time in perhaps 2014-16 they got tons of positive media attention, politicians and celebrities wanted to affiliate with them, and it looked like they might participate in shaping important legislation. Then it all went downhill. And if they were actually interested, left-wing activists might look at the history of it and see common problems with other movements. First, there’s the extremists who do stupid stuff just to get attention: [assaulting Bernie Sanders](https://www.wsj.com/articles/bernie-sanders-shoved-by-activists-at-rally-1439084408), [disrupting gay pride parades](https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/4/black-lives-matter-shuts-down-toronto-gay-pride-pa/), [etc…](https://www.twincities.com/2015/08/30/black-lives-matter-chant-threatening-to-officers-police-say/) But probably more importantly, there’s the fact that whenever any activist group is having some success, every other left-wing group tries to hijack it, so nobody ever stays focused on one topic. So Black Lives Matter begins focused on combating police brutality, then we blink and they’re [issuing statements about Palestine](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/08/why-did-black-american-activists-start-caring-about-palestine/496088/) and charter schools and transsexuals and whatever else is a popular fad among activists at any given moments. You can’t achieve anything if you can’t stay focused. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2020, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/12 "2020-04-07T21:23:50Z")
Hell, in the last 4 weeks, I haven’t heard very much news about the Presidential race, much less BLM. COVID-19 pretty much has clogged up every single news second. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2020, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/13 "2020-04-09T13:50:23Z")
BLM was setup in a way that was quite deliberate: They have no prominent leader speaking for the entire movement. This has advantages in that without a leader they cannot be hyper-investigated for tiny events in their past, are less likely to be targets of police harassment, or even assassination. This also means there is not much of a ‘go-to’ figurehead for the media to rush to for comment. BLM tends to answer by committee, which may not be as interesting to media sources. And, as several folks have noted, other events have been happening. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/14 "2020-06-04T04:02:42Z")
The premise of this thread was silly on its face, but it looks utterly ridiculous now just two months later. ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/15 "2020-06-06T12:55:55Z")
April 2: Man, COVID-19 is a pretty big deal. Anybody remember BLM? By the end of May: Man, BLM is a pretty big deal. Anybody remember covid? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/16 "2020-06-06T17:47:12Z")
> [@Cabbage](#): > > April 2: Man, COVID-19 is a pretty big deal. Anybody remember BLM? > > By the end of May: Man, BLM is a pretty big deal. Anybody remember covid? In Arizona many workers in restaurants are wearing masks and still maintain the social distancing, so yes, it is still a very big deal particularly when cases are increasing due in part for Arizona having a weak lock down and The Republican governor removed many restrictions recently (before the protests, I may add). So yes, a big deal too, unlike the president we can walk and chew gum at the same time and consider both issues a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Weirofhermiston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e274bd/32.png) [@Weirofhermiston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirofhermiston)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/17 "2020-06-06T17:54:23Z")
As real as [drapetomania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drapetomania). ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/18 "2020-06-06T18:11:53Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > me too. Me three ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/19 "2020-06-06T18:36:06Z")
> [@Weirofhermiston](#): > > As real as [drapetomania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drapetomania). Since that was an attempt by slavers to justify their position it was real thing alright, as just another invented talking point to convince slavers that they were good people and/or good Christians. BLM is real in the sense that it points at the modern racists as lacking empathy when considering what it is happening to black people that have to wonder if they will be killed just for jogging, or being stopped by the police. > ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923/20 "2020-06-06T20:01:01Z")
I take issue with the idea that Philando Castille’s shooting was in any way excusable because of the way he looked. This is a central issue to BLM, in fact. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blm-real/850923.md?page=2)