Is BLM a Marxist Movement?
Intro (with music): Peace, love, and understanding.
Steve Dehner:
Hello, and thank you for joining me again for the Peace, Love, and Understanding podcast. My name is Steve Dehner and I'm your host.
A few days ago I had a birthday, and I was reminded, as I often am, that on the morning I was born, four little girls were murdered in Birmingham, Alabama, in a singular act of hatred and savagery when the 16th Street Baptist Church they were in was bombed by Klansmen supporting white supremacy and segregation. They had planted the bomb under the steps, which was near the basement where the girls were getting ready for church. The bomb exploded at 10:22, killing Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carol Robertson, and Carol Denise McNair. The time of my birth is recorded as exactly 70 minutes later. This was and is a particularly hateful and despicable crime, one for which justice was delayed, and slow, and ultimately incomplete. Americans were outraged and horrified. It was one of those events that opened many people's eyes to the evil that underpinned white supremacy and segregation. And it was a shame on white America that it took the televised beatings, the attack dogs and the fire hoses set on children. and the murder of children by adult men to awaken them to the abhorrent evil of institutional racism in America. These beautiful girls who we're getting into choir robes at the moment of their deaths should never be forgotten. They remind us that racial hatred knows no bounds, and that men will stop at nothing to maintain their power and oppress their innocent victims.
Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carol Robertson, and Carol Denise McNair.
Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carol Robertson, and Carol Denise McNair.
In a similar way, we're admonished to remember the names of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Breonna, Taylor, and the many other African Americans who have fallen as victims to violence that is the stock in trade of white supremacy. And it has become clear that all the same dynamics are in play today that were in 1963. Too many of us had to watch the brutal asphyxiation of George Floyd, or read about one unarmed person after another being murdered, to realize that white supremacy is not a fading feature of our society, but one that was hiding in the woodwork and is now coming out into the open at the invitation of our last president. Oh, but how like 1963 it is: men and women, adults, teens, and children murdered. And one still hears the complaints about rioting in our cities. That's right. Outrage over clashes with police, and the destruction of property, but all too often none left over for the murder victims. White people shaking their heads over broken windows, but silent about broken lives, stolen lives. Perhaps even worse is the effort to somehow make them equivalent: 'Those deaths are terrible. But so are those destructive riots.'
Not so different from 1963. And here's something else that hasn't changed. In the 1960s excuses were used to dismiss the civil rights movement and the demands they made for an end to systemic racism, Jim Crow, and persistent discrimination. The demand was for the rights that were promised to all of us in our Constitution, yet they were opposed with charges that were meant to delegitimize them. The people insisting on civil rights were actually communists. This was alleged at a time when the greatest fear most Americans had was the advance of communism in the world. In truth, the leaders and members of the movement worked through a number of organizations, and came from the spectrum of political affiliations, and some, like Martin Luther King Jr., held no public affiliation at all. Among them were a few socialists, and a few communists. They were, especially in the early days, often asked to keep a low profile.
Today, many white opponents of the Black Lives Matter movement are doing the same thing, trying to discredit the movement by calling attention to BLM's -- the organization's -- Marxists connections. As we'll see in a moment, those connections are real. But make no mistake, these charges are simply a way to provide any white person who feels they need or want it, an excuse for dismissing the movement by labeling its core philosophy Marxist. And this has been done by identifying the whole movement with the organization. I want to take a few minutes to break this down, so you can see the sleight of hand at work here.
First of all, let's talk about the organization. As you will see, I'm not going to defend the organization. I'm sure they deserve some of the credit they've gotten and some of the criticism. But let's start with the Marxist charge. One of the founders, Patrisse Cullors, did an interview in 2015 where she said, quote, "We do have an ideological frame. Myself and Alicia, in particular, are trained organizers. We are trained Marxists. We are superversed on sort of ideological theories. And I think what we really tried to do is build a movement that could be utilized by many, many black folks." End quote. She was referring to Alicia Garza, another founder. In a 2020 article PolitiFact wrote, "We didn't find that Garza and Tometi have referred to themselves as Marxists. But the book publisher Penguin Random House has said Garza, an author, quote, 'Describes herself as a queer, social justice activist and Marxist,'" end quote. So we have two of three founders identifying as Marxists. Do we find a Marxist agenda? Well, that can be argued, from their statement of aims that appeared on their website. One of the statements that drew the most criticism is this: "We disrupt the Western prescribed nucular family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and quote 'villages' that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers parents and children are comfortable." That's just the sort of thing that makes people hate present day Marxism. As if the nuclear family hasn't been adequately disrupted for the last 60 years. Perhaps no community felt that as early as the black communities, a disruption that has its roots in 300 years of enslavement, but has proven, at least in the US, to be an equal opportunity disruption. That is exactly what ideology spawned in ivory towers will get you. Thanks, but no thanks. What's interesting is the whole "What We Believe section that laid out their ideology and agenda, from which the above quote was taken, is now gone, removed from their website, as in "404, not found. We cannot find the page you are looking for." I don't know when they took it down, but they evidently decided in favor of a much shorter and broader statement. Do they still believe in the earlier statement? Are they still working toward the wide ranging and radical social transformation they earlier published? Who knows?
It's worth pointing out that the organization exists for the betterment of our society, and the situation of black people in it. So while I may disagree with some statements, or with some tactics, who am I, as a white man, to pass judgment on the organization? Even so, I think it's worth pointing out that there's plenty of ideology in the original statement that the majority of blacks in America are not interested in, or even agree with. One example is the BLM stance on LGBTQ identity and rights. African Americans are statistically less accepting than whites of homosexuality, which only means Marxism is not the only area in which BLM does not, or did not, speak for the majority of blacks. They spoke for themselves, and that's fine. I think they were just following in an honored leftist tradition of hitching every other social agenda item onto the big one that's deservedly getting most of the attention right now. On the other hand, someone evidently felt they could benefit the cause with a sharpened focus, and possibly that is why the shorter and broader statement has replaced the manifesto. So, that is BLM from a few years ago, arguably Marxist influenced in some of their aims. Now? Who knows? More quietly, so? Perhaps, but when you take down the manifesto from your website, you are realistically not going to get far in advancing it.
Now, BLM the movement. This is bigger, broader, and by necessity more diverse in ideology, beliefs, and tactics. That's just how movements are. They are a big tent, because a lot of diverse people want in. My big point is simply this: It's either ignorant, or lazy, or disingenuous to point at the NPO and say, "That's the movement. The NPO used to say it was Marxist, therefore the movement is Marxist." Now, I know that critics of critical race theory like to call it 'cultural Marxism.' But I think that is simply further conflating distinct things. Is CRT gaining currency in the present discussions of racial justice, including the BLM Movement? Sure. I'm not going to tackle that here except to say, that is a third distinct thing. The movement cannot be identified with CRT, either. And my main evidence for that is: way too many of us cannot give a fair description of it to save our lives. The thing is, I do not have to be a Marxist to support the movement. In fact, I can be and I am, anti Marxist. Marxist regimes murdered close to 100 million people in the 20th century, making it the most murderous and brutal of all the modern political ideologies. I am an unapologetic anti Marxist, just as I am an unapologetic, anti Fascist. But the BLM Movement is beyond such ideologies. It is above it. It is modest yet powerful because it simply asks first that black people be seen and heard, that their lived, everyday experience be acknowledged, that they be understood as living with systemic racism, that persists stubbornly in the US; that this racism is deadly, soul crushing, exhausting, hope-killing, dark, evil, and insidious. And: I am not really familiar with it. I can't see it that well. Why? Because it's not kneeling on my neck. I don't live with it. It doesn't touch me in ways that are obvious to me. And I am not on the oppressed victim side of it. I'm on the "I don't know what you're talking about" side of it, the white man side of it. And because of that simple fact, there is one thing I need to do before I say another word about the experiences of people who live with this incessant affront to their dignity and humanity.
And that thing I need to do is to listen.
Listen.
These lives lived matter. And the most obvious thing in the world is that I don't know these lives. I know my life. But I don't know black lives. And there's only one way to have any acquaintance with black lives. And that is to hear their stories. And to hear, I've got to listen. If I have no interest in listening, to learn, and to acknowledge and to value other people's stories, then I don't really have any place in the conversation. And if this is your position, my white friends, neither do you. And, my white Christian friends, if you're not listening, and making some effort to learn, I don't know, but I'll tell you, it looks a lot like not caring, just plain old indifference. And if I don't care, and I'm not listening because I don't care, and therefore I am not a part of this national conversation right now, then I think it's pretty clear: I am part of the problem right now. And that, my friends, is what we don't want to own up to. I don't think that not caring is truly an option for Christians, for a number of reasons.
The first is love, our prime directive. Love does not allow me to turn away from people who are suffering from injustice, just as I mustn't turn away from suffering people generally.
The second reason I must care about racial injustice is justice. If there is injustice, and there certainly is, and it arises and is maintained by power and privilege, it is wrong and unchristian, and violates scripture to deny that injustice exists, or to side with power and privilege against the oppressed. The prophets were willing to risk imprisonment and death, to call out the injustice of the kings. They called them out to their faces, because they were speaking for a God who hates injustice.
The third reason is that caring precedes the process that leads to awareness and acknowledgement, which in turn, proceeds an understanding of my obligation to be a part of the movement for justice. To refuse this is to accept the injustice, which continues to oppress, murder, impoverish, scapegoat, and marginalize its victims -- and which affords me as a white man the privilege of never experiencing this oppression. The fact that I have the choice of ignoring or denying this injustice proves this white birthright privilege I have. No person of color has such a choice. They have to face it, and live with it every day. To passively accept racial injustice, is to help maintain it. To do my part in preserving white supremacy in our society, I only have to do nothing.
I don't think any white American who professes to be a Christian has the option of not caring. At the very least, you should care about whether or not you are not caring about something that you should care about. The next thing for me to do is not to send money to BLM Inc. If you don't like what they've said, or you question some of their tactics, fine. The next thing for you to do, I think, is to search your heart for your real attitude and motives. Do you care? There is no escaping that the rhetoric of a lot of white conservative Christians, and even some who consider themselves more liberal, conveys they are more concerned about being accused of racism than about the persistent evil of racism itself.
If they could only hear themselves: "Blue lives matter," "All lives matter," "BLM is a Marxist front." It's not so different from 1963, is it? When faced with the growing perception that America's systemic racism is real and evil, just say integration equals communism, something most Americans spent decades fearing and fighting. If every person supporting BLM was a Marxist, they would still deserve to be heard if they are the ones speaking for the dead and oppressed. Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carol Robinson and Carol Denise McNair were not Marxists. But even if they were, they would still be four innocent girls murdered because they were black. Eric Garner, George Floyd, John Crawford, Jordan Edwards, Stephon Clark, George Robinson, Manuel Ellis, and Breanna Taylor: none of them were Marxists. But even if they were, they are still black people whose lives matter, who were unarmed, and killed by police officers. I doubt they care if those calling for justice on their behalf are Marxist or not. But using this excuse in order to disregard calls for justice does not answer for their blood. And it is their blood that calls out from the ground.
(Musical bridge)
Hey, if you go to the show notes for this episode, you will see there that I've put all of the links and citations for the notable facts that I cited during this episode. I'm also putting a link for a music video for a song called "Birmingham Sunday." A friend sent me the song because of my birthday, and I want to share it with you. The song was originally written by a guy named Richard Farina. He sang it and recorded it in 1964, a year after the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Then his sister-in-law, Joan Baez, also recorded it. In 2017 Rhiannon Giddens recorded the version that I'm sharing with you. It's really beautiful and, I think, a very, very fitting memorial to the girls who lost their lives on September 15, 1963.
I hope you're enjoying my podcast. If you are, will you please tell a friend or two about it, and send them over here so they can check it out? I appreciate you joining me and listening. And until next time, make peace, share love, and seek understanding, peace and understanding.
Outro (with music): If you like the show, please tap the Follow button to subscribe. If you love the show, please consider supporting it at Patreon, and help keep the show ad-free. Learn more about yours truly on our Transistor page: Peace dash love dash understanding dot Transistor dot FM, and stevedehner.com.
