All things related to the Black Lives Matter movement.
For White People Who Want to Attend #BlackLivesMatter Protests
For White People Who Want to Attend #BlackLivesMatter Protests
In the last two years that I've organized around antiblack violence and within the #BlackLivesMatter movement, I've witnessed white people showing up more and more to protests and rallies. At first, when we were protesting for Mike Brown for months in 2014, personally I was a lot more open to welcoming white allies who wanted [...]
wearyourvoicemag.com



As a white guy who fully supports BLM, I'm glad I read this article and now understand how some people feel about my support of the movement.
If my presence at an event is hurtful to the movement, then by all means, I'll stay home.
But the tone of this article is disconcerting. I don't believe in violence, and I feel like the tone of this article and the tone of many people on the side of BLM is leading people to think that violence is the only solution.
Now, reading the comments, here's one that I just can't understand:
I don't think that this is a rational position to take. Yes, it would be ideal if everyone were on a level playing field. But to completely turn the tables in an instant is absurd and doesn't work. It just leads to violence and conflict and more division.
We should all be striving to be equals, in my opinion.
These folks are sounding like they want to be "on top" - but I thought we were fighting AGAINST hierarchies.
I want to preface my response by saying that I am also white, and I speak from the position of ally and obviously not someone who experiences any of this first hand.
I read the article twice and even keyword searched for the word "violence". While Shackelford discusses the violence against black people over the course of hundreds of years in America, no where does she advocate violence or suggest this is the only solution. She is angry and scared at what is happening to black people in America as well as (and perhaps especially) angry with white people at our lack of real action. If you're suggesting her anger is disconcerting, please educate yourself on the topic of tone policing and how detrimental it is (I follow EverydayFeminism on FB, so this popped up immediately for me: http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/12/tone-policing-and-privilege/).
Honestly, looking at the person's FB profile who wrote to give up all of your wealth - I'm pretty sure he's trolling. He's white, appears wealthy (CEO), and he's from Bulgaria (sounds like they're pretty racist there).
I do believe in government reparations and I'm not sure what to make of your comments following the quote or who "these folks" are referring to. Black people??
Hi there, I consider myself to be an ally as well, and I do also understand the anger.
But you don't have to explicitly advocate for violence for your writing to be interpreted as such. The tone is what I'm talking about. Tone can express far more than mere words.
I'm just worried that there will be more violence and rhetoric like this inspires the kind of hatred that produces violence.
The "these folks" that I was referring to were the individuals on that page who were the most abrasive sounding.