I've seen a lot of (white) people on social media denouncing the current Black Lives Matter protests because of the rioting, looting, and violence that has been sparking up at them. People are completely denouncing an entire movement that is attempting to raise awareness of the fact that black people's human rights are continuously violated and that black people are seen as less than human in the United States simply because the protests have not remained entirely peaceful.
I've seen way too many people bring up Martin Luther King, Jr. and his emphasis on nonviolence as a reason to tell protesters that they are "protesting wrong" and that leaders of the Civil Rights movement would be disappointed in them.
But being against violence is not a valid reason to be against the Black Lives Matter movement or protests. In fact, there is no valid reason to be against these things.
Most of the protests have been peaceful. Actual protesters denounce the looting. Most of the violence and so-called rioting has been the result of police brutality against peaceful protesters. Watch videos from the protests and see innocent protesters getting gassed, shot with rubber bullets, and pepper-sprayed. Watch the videos and see people being arrested simply for speaking. Watch the videos and see black people and actual protesters telling white people to stop looting and stop destroying buildings. Watch the videos and see peaceful protests get brutalized.
Violence and Black Lives Matter are not synonyms, so don't use the former to discredit the latter. Black Lives Matter is, at its core, a peaceful movement.
If you are against violence, that is great. I'm completely against violence, so I understand your viewpoint. However, I am begging you not to use your anti-violence as a reason to be against the Black Lives Matter movement. Do not post photos of Martin Luther King, Jr. and quote him as if he was loved for his pacifism. He was one of the most disliked men in America. Chances are, if you're white, you would've hated him when he was alive. Remember that he was killed for his form of protest, which you now say is the only "right way" to protest.
If you're against violence, you better still be signing petitions asking for change. You better still be donating to organizations fighting against discrimination. You better still be educating yourself. You better still be having the tough conversations about race, racism, and privilege. You better still be doing something.
If you're one of the people out there saying things along the lines of "I'm going to follow the path of MLK and oppose violence" as a way of being against the current protests and you are not doing anything to support Black Lives Matter and black people, remember that there is more to him than pacifism and there is more to violence than the physical.
So if you're using MLK and nonviolence as a reason to speak out against Black Lives Matter and are not doing anything to peacefully provoke change, I ask you to consider why you are doing this and to think about these five quotes from the man you claim to emulate:
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter."
"To ignore evil is to become accomplice to it."
"In the end, we remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends."
"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."
"The silence of the good people is more dangerous than the brutality of the bad people."
— Martin Luther King Jr.
