Two African-American House Democrats have voiced their support for the Black Lives Matter activists who have disrupted the campaign events of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
Reps. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Shelia Jackson Lee (D-TX) both voiced their support for the tactics of the activists during interviews conducted by The Hill.
Rep. Jackson Lee said, “They really are speaking to the issues, and we’re really long overdue responding to those issues. They’ve been pointed, nonviolent and strong, and I’m not offended. They’re asking for nothing more than to lift up a system to treat them with justice.”
Rep. Johnson said, “For Black Lives Matter activists, the issue is literally a matter of life and death as evidenced by the continued killing of unarmed Black men and women by police officers across the nation. When presidential candidates fail to acknowledge how the current criminal system detrimentally impacts Black lives, they resort to disruptive tactics to force attention to the issue. While disruption is uncomfortable, it does result in candidates acknowledging and addressing the issue with policy proposals. When that happens, the need to protest is abated.”
The disruption is uncomfortable, and it does make some supporters of Sen. Sanders angry. However, the activists are trying to disrupt other campaigns. The activists attempted to disrupt Clinton and Bush events but have no success because those candidates have better security. It isn’t that Black Lives Matter is only targeting Sen. Sanders, but it is that the Sanders events are where they have had the most success.
From the perspective of the activists, the behavior of those who angry at them is the equivalent of being told to sit down and shut up, but from a safety point of view storming the stage is a dangerous and bad idea.
The Black Lives Matter activists could successfully disrupt campaign events without putting the safety of the candidate in jeopardy. The disruptions have gotten the candidates talking about the issue, but Black Lives Matter is running the risk of being consumed by the sort of chaos that killed Occupy Wall Street. At some point, for the movement to mature, it will have to take on a more organized structure.
It is debatable whether or not targeting Sen. Sanders is a worthwhile pursuit, but if he was drawing 500 people to his events instead of 20,000-30,000 Black Lives Matter might not view his rallies as such an attractive target. Sanders should be handling the activists in the same manner as the other campaigns. He should meet with them privately, but his security should not allow them anywhere near the stage.
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