By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com
Black Lives Matter is a movement with a noble mission: calling attention to unequal treatment by police agencies toward people of color.
That nobility, though, has been shattered by outbreaks of violence in the name of BLM. We have seen it in cities across the land and, yes, around the world.
It is that violence that gives me pause as I consider that a Norwegian lawmaker has nominated BLM for the Nobel Peace Prize. We all should hail the nomination, as it seeks to do enormous good. However, the impact of the BLM movement has produced a whole lot of suffering, loss of life, damage to property and to communities’ reputations.
I have difficulty with the nomination.
As Fox News reported: In his nomination papers, Norwegian (member of Parliament) Petter Eide said the movement forced nations to reckon with racism and other injustices, The Guardian reported.
“I find that one of the key challenges we have seen in America, but also in Europe and Asia, is the kind of increasing conflict based on inequality,” he wrote. “Black Lives Matter has become a very important worldwide movement to fight racial injustice. They have had a tremendous achievement in raising global awareness and consciousness about racial injustice.”
The Black Lives Matter movement has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (mercurynews.com)
I cannot for one second dispute what Eide said about the effect BLM has had on the worldwide discussion of racial inequality. The nomination, though, ignores the collateral damage inflicted by the looters, rioters and all-around bad guys whose conduct has erupted in violence.
Eide noted in his nominating statement that “most of the demonstrations organized by Black Lives Matter have been peaceful.” Most of them? OK, fair enough. That doesn’t wipe away the violence we have witnessed.
I detest the way the term “Black Lives Matter” has been been bastardized by foes of BLM who suggest the movement intends to say that “only Black Lives Matter.” It does nothing of the sort. It states only that the lives of African-Americans and other racial minorities matter as much as everyone else.
I know we don’t live in a perfect world. Thus, BLM’s noble intention has been perverted by too many hangers-on who seek to escalate what should be a peaceful message into something radically more violent.
