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Showing Original Post only (View all)Opinion: Portland's protests were supposed to be about black lives. Now, they're white spectacle" [View all]
Portlands protests were supposed to be about black lives. Now, theyre white spectacle.
Early in his activism, Malcolm X was asked by a young white woman what she could do to help the cause of civil rights. He famously replied, Nothing. Years later, he regretted dismissing her so abruptly, because he came to believe there was much she could do to advance the cause of justice for black people in the United States. But I am quite certain that striking yoga poses nude on the streets of Portland, Ore., was not on his list of actionable items.
Images of Naked Athena, as the protester has been labeled, have gone viral, her unclothed confrontation with police earning her accolades as a brave ally of the cause. But I see something else: a beneficiary of white privilege dancing vainly on a stage that was originally created to raise up the voices of my oppressed brothers and sisters. In this, she is not alone. As the demonstrations continue every night in Portland, many people with their own agendas are co-opting, and distracting attention from, what should be our central concern: the Black Lives Matter movement.
...
Unfortunately, spectacle is now the best way to describe Portlands protests. Vandalizing government buildings and hurling projectiles at law enforcement draw attention but how do these actions stop police from killing black people? What are antifa and other leftist agitators achieving for the cause of black equality? The Wall of Moms, while perhaps well-intentioned, ends up redirecting attention away from the urgent issue of murdered black bodies. This might ease the consciences of white, affluent women who have previously been silent in the face of black oppression, but its fair to ask: Are they really furthering the cause of justice, or is this another example of white co-optation?
...
We cannot fall for their deception. We cannot settle for spectacles that endanger us all. This is a moment for serious action to once again take up the mantle of the civil rights era by summoning the same conviction and determination our forebears did. We welcome our white brothers and sisters in this struggle. In fact, we need them. But I must ask them to remain humbly attuned to the opportunity of this moment and to reflect on whether any actions they take will truly help establish justice, or whether they are simply for show.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/23/portlands-protests-were-supposed-be-about-black-lives-now-theyre-white-spectacle/#click=https://t.co/Aeytu4K48v
Early in his activism, Malcolm X was asked by a young white woman what she could do to help the cause of civil rights. He famously replied, Nothing. Years later, he regretted dismissing her so abruptly, because he came to believe there was much she could do to advance the cause of justice for black people in the United States. But I am quite certain that striking yoga poses nude on the streets of Portland, Ore., was not on his list of actionable items.
Images of Naked Athena, as the protester has been labeled, have gone viral, her unclothed confrontation with police earning her accolades as a brave ally of the cause. But I see something else: a beneficiary of white privilege dancing vainly on a stage that was originally created to raise up the voices of my oppressed brothers and sisters. In this, she is not alone. As the demonstrations continue every night in Portland, many people with their own agendas are co-opting, and distracting attention from, what should be our central concern: the Black Lives Matter movement.
...
Unfortunately, spectacle is now the best way to describe Portlands protests. Vandalizing government buildings and hurling projectiles at law enforcement draw attention but how do these actions stop police from killing black people? What are antifa and other leftist agitators achieving for the cause of black equality? The Wall of Moms, while perhaps well-intentioned, ends up redirecting attention away from the urgent issue of murdered black bodies. This might ease the consciences of white, affluent women who have previously been silent in the face of black oppression, but its fair to ask: Are they really furthering the cause of justice, or is this another example of white co-optation?
...
We cannot fall for their deception. We cannot settle for spectacles that endanger us all. This is a moment for serious action to once again take up the mantle of the civil rights era by summoning the same conviction and determination our forebears did. We welcome our white brothers and sisters in this struggle. In fact, we need them. But I must ask them to remain humbly attuned to the opportunity of this moment and to reflect on whether any actions they take will truly help establish justice, or whether they are simply for show.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/23/portlands-protests-were-supposed-be-about-black-lives-now-theyre-white-spectacle/#click=https://t.co/Aeytu4K48v
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Opinion: Portland's protests were supposed to be about black lives. Now, they're white spectacle" [View all]
StarfishSaver
Jul 2020
OP
Just read a thread about an injured medic in PDX - he says the protest on the ground is still BLM:
chia
Jul 2020
#38
You make a good point. But if you read my post again, it was explain with the expectation
Blue_true
Jul 2020
#51
I read your and agree with your point. My post wasn't intended to counter you
StarfishSaver
Jul 2020
#52
Black people are not going to get far against the system without White allies.
Blue_true
Jul 2020
#9
Bravo herdingcats!! This is what civil rights icons would say to do...and did!
Thekaspervote
Jul 2020
#14
There has been nothing of the kind... A BLM protest was met with bullets and
Demsrule86
Jul 2020
#25
The entire country has fallen into the hands of a fascist cabal directed by a foreign enemy...
Hekate
Jul 2020
#16
Portland's Wall of Moms turned over leadership of their group to Black and Indigenous women
flibbitygiblets
Jul 2020
#20
About naked yoga woman, I couldn't help think: that's such an art major thing to do.
betsuni
Jul 2020
#23
Yet it seems that only white people threaten to stop "fighting the power" when black people aren't
StarfishSaver
Jul 2020
#41
I, native Portlander, am watching the live feed into the wee hours every night.
Grasswire2
Jul 2020
#48