Michelle Obama Wrongly Claims BLM Protests Overwhelmingly 'Peaceful'

Are the Protests Mostly Peaceful?

Did the seven months of racial unrest across the United States remain nonviolent? In an impressive combination of gaslighting and condescension, the left keeps telling us to believe what they say, not what our own eyes tell us. Let's fact-check Michelle Obama, shall we?

The 2020 protests comprised of rioting, looting, arson, vandalism and widespread property destruction, leading to at least 14,000 arrests and causing over 62,000 National Guard troops to be activated in response.

More than 400 police officers were injured in protests across the country, a 28% surge in police officers killed last year.

Looting in the name of racial solidarity resulted in record-high insurance claims—over $1 billion dollars in riot damage—the most expensive in insurance history, and was excused in the media as "reparations". The burning down of buildings was deemed acceptable because they're "just buildings", and insurance policies should cover it.

Rioting and looting are acceptable forms of behavior? Why? Because the rioters and looters have no other options? Really? In free, democratic America, you have no other options? Does this apply to all ethnic groups? Hispanics? Southeast Asians? Pacific Islanders? Of course not.

The debate about how much racism there is in America—and specifically the disparity between the races—is just as fierce as ever. Discrimination still exists. Let's deal with it openly and honestly. Unfortunately, that's very hard to do.

One reason is that many people feel that they have to treat blacks with kid gloves. They think this is noble... enlightened... progressive. It's not. It's demeaning and condescending. In fact, it's racist.

When it comes to judging black behavior, the facts matter. To suggest anything else is to perpetuate discrimination, the very thing that those who espouse social justice claim to want to end.

Anyone, whether white or any other color, who excuses blacks for bad behavior just because they are black obviously doesn't consider blacks their equal. Rather, they view blacks, in effect, as children who are unable to adhere to the standards to which every other group is held. Think carefully about that. The only difference between this view and that of white supremacists is that white supremacists are honest and open: in their view blacks are inferior to whites. Period.

But those who condescend to blacks cloak themselves in self-righteousness. So, somehow that makes it okay. The bad behavior happens—a riot in Ferguson—and they nod knowingly: "They couldn't take it anymore. Who can blame them?"

BLM activists who engage in violence aren't carrying on MLK's legacy; they're erasing it.

These protests are not about empowering black people. They are about disempowering black people. Because when the fires stop burning, all that remains is hopelessness, anger, and shame. That’s not empowerment. That’s oppression.

Look at the innocent victims—the business owners, many of them black, who have lost their life’s work to looting and arson. What are they supposed to do now? Who cleans up the graffiti and the shattered glass? Who rebuilds? Who, after seeing their dreams go up in smoke, even wants to?

Every week in Chicago, New York, Baltimore, Washington, DC, black criminals kill black men, women and children—children. Do you know the name of a single one of them? Why don’t their lives matter? Where are the protests for them? Why do we only get angry when a white police officer kills a black man, while dozens of our brothers and sisters are mowed down every weekend in our neighborhoods?

Black Lives Matter and its supporters, with their bottomless obsession with racism, pretend to be leading us to a better future. But in fact, they are sending us into a spiral of self-destruction.

Mr. Floyd should not have died as he did. But make no mistake: Black Lives Matter and their allies are using George Floyd’s death to split Americans apart at the very moment we should be coming together. They are striking at the heart of this country—twisting the knife of white guilt with one hand, and black resentment with the other. 

There’s no better place to live for anyone, of any race, than America. And everybody outside of America knows it. That’s why they line up, at US embassies around the world, hoping for a chance to come here to live and work. This is truly the land of opportunity. 

So, how about this for a change? Treat blacks equally. Always. In every way. Not differently. Not better. Not worse. Is that so hard to do?

Because if we really want racial harmony—not to mention an end to racism—that's the only way to get there.