In case you haven't heard, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, that level-headed co-host of Fox & Friends and formerly of The View, suggested that the #BlackLivesMatter movement be classified as a hate group as video of protesters in St. Paul, Minnesota, used anti-police rhetoric loudly and proudly. This was in the wake of the recent, tragic shooting of a police officer in Texas, seemingly murdered in cold blood for being nothing other than a police officer. A shooting, might I add, that I can't see a single, solitary soul condoning or encouraging. Nobody in the BLM movement is advocating for violence, just equal treatment.
Now, many people both inside and outside of the movement DO hate the police. This isn't new. But almost each and every time a police officer has been callously killed, you hear people from all walks decrying such pointless violence. A tragedy is a tragedy. Which is, ya know, kind of the point. See, when a person of color, and hell a person not of color gets killed by a police officer, the public is SUUUUUUPER slow to recognize it as a tragedy and largely falls on the "perp had it coming" narrative that's been getting blown to smithereens around this nation in the past few years. That veil of "resisting arrest" is being pulled back and by George, some people are just tired of taking that shit.
Saying Black lives matters doesn't mean other lives don't. Any idiot should be able to see that. Saying breast cancer matters doesn't mean liver cancer doesn't. But alas, walking and chewing gum is a difficult endeavor for many people, both dumb and educated, Black, white, or other. And while some of the actions of people operating under the movement can seem more disruptive than purposeful, the larger point is being tended to: that's that Black people are getting tired of catching every type of hell from the media, police, and general public and aren't going to continue sitting down for it. Action is better than inaction and if we're being honest, awareness is definitely up.
But you know what? Why not? I'm sure some of the folks who fly the BLM flag hate stuff. Some of them probably hate some of the Black lives that matter. Really, who doesn't have a cousin they hate but if that cat got shot by the cops you'd be out marching too? Hate is such a fickle thing. One day you hate somebody, the next day you love them; we call those relationships. I mean, there's even a thin line between love and hate. And a song to boot!
But, if we're going to call BLM a hate group based on their antics and rhetoric, wellllllll, there are a few other organizations that might need to be classified as hate groups as well. Liiiiiiiiiiiiike…
1. The Police
This one is almost too easy. The police are killing people then hiding it under the guise of "necessary force" "resisting arrest" and "authority". They've been profiling people of color, and using their authority to do something about it for eons. While an individual police officer can be a good person, the organization of "the police" is remarkably corrupt as evidenced by the recent spate of contradictory video that coincides with false reports, etc. The police are one of the worst hate groups ever, because their organized hate keeps killing people, regardless of color, and instead of wanting to reform itself, keeps digging its heels in further. How an organization tasked with protecting and serving kills people so frequently is beyond me. At the core, there's a reason why SO many people, especially people of color, have such a visceral distrust of the police, and it's not because minorities are all criminals that the police are trying to straighten out. It's because to the police, all of us are guilty. To quote Verbal Kint, "To a cop the explanation is never that complicated. It's always simple. There's no mystery to the street, no arch criminal behind it all. If you got a dead body and you think his brother did it, you're gonna find out you're right."
2. PETA
PETA might legit be a hate group. Or at least a shell for one. They're one of the few groups who values the life of animals more than they do people, evidenced by their unnecessary shots at Michael Vick, a man who has paid his debt to society and probably raised more awareness about dogfighting than PETA ever could. But nooooooooo, they continue their verbal attacks. Not to mention that PETA activists have been known to douse people wearing furs in paint. Publicly. How is it that those actions don't get them on the hate group map? The KKK is stealing all the glory, meanwhile PETA is acting like a bully. If PETA isn't a hate group then I'm a rapper with a multiplatinum album to my name.
3. The Catholic Church
Have you seen The Da Vinci Code? Bad example. But the Crusades happened, paco. Many of them.
4. The non-Catholic Church
Have you ever been in a church pew and heard a pastor tell you that the homosexuals were all going to hell? While his clearly gay choir director sat uncomfortable to his right? I have. I get that the church largely rests its laurels in the teachings of the Bible, one of THE most out of date books in the history of everything. I'm not saying conservative values are akin to hate, what I AM saying is that, those conservative values can sometimes elicit opinions that sound a whole lot like hate. That's all I'm saying.
5. Fox News
I mean, its pretty hateful to imply a group of individuals trying to gain equality in treatment is a hate group. It's also hateful to say 95 percent of the other shit that gets spewed on Fox News. In their defense, they just seem to be a bunch of loons so, ya know. But hey, coded racist rhetoric is that new age stuff so it is what it is. #hategroup