In 2020, a number of U.S. cities were plunged into chaos as rioters took to the streets, following the death of Geroge Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Leading many of the marchers was an organization previously unknown to most Americans, Black Lives Matter, or BLM.
With fires raging behind them, network news reporters tried to convince viewers that these were "peaceful protests."
We knew better, of course, and our hearts went out to the minority-owned businesses and neighborhoods devastated by the riots.
And yet, sympathy for BLM’s mission continued to run strong. "Of course, Black lives matter," millions of well-meaning Americans seemingly knew.
And, "All lives matter, so if our Black friends, neighbors, and colleagues feel theirs are in any way devalued, let’s make it clear they aren’t."
BLM’s website was famously scrubbed to remove language disparaging the "Western-prescribed nuclear family structure."
But it still proclaims the organization’s commitment to "combating and countering acts of violence."
And that is an undeniably good thing.
Now, however, we must consider BLM in a different light.
On Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and committed acts too brutal to imagine.
Shocking photos and video reveal beheaded infants, raped children, and the execution of entire families.
A concert dedicated to peace was overrun by Hamas, resulting in the murder of 260 young men and women, many of whom were brutalized and raped.
More than one hundred Israelis were kidnapped, too, including babies and the elderly.
At this very moment, they are suffering atrocities wherever in Gaza they are being imprisoned.
The horrors Hamas committed are so appalling, they will forever haunt everyone who has seen the images.
Everyone, it seems, but BLM’s leaders.
Rather than join the global community in condemning this evil attack, BLM issued a statement publicly expressing "solidarity" with Hamas.
Even more outrageous, BLM described the infanticide, rapes, murders, and kidnapping as — get this — "self-defense"!
Never mind, they seem to be suggesting, that Hamas invaded Israel on Saturday — not the other way around.
They would have us ignore, too, the crimes against humanity gleefully committed by the terrorists.
Instead, BLM apparently wants us to believe Hamas’ heinous acts were right, and their many victims are somehow in the wrong.
This stance, of course, is reprehensible.
It's costing BLM. As one person posted on X (formerly Twitter), "I have been a Black Lives Matter supporter since the beginning. That ends today."
Others renounced their BLM support on social media, calling the group’s stance "offensive" and "utterly sickening."
Personally speaking, this writer hopes BLM retracts its statement and joins all those decrying Hamas’ violent attack.
If it refuses to, though, perhaps it’s time for BLM to consider a couple of updates.
First, its website seems to be in need of a refresh.
No longer is "combating and countering acts of violence" an accurate description of its mission. Not when it defends the violence committed by Hamas.
Likewise, a refresh of the organization’s name may be appropriate.
Each and every life, including black lives, isn’t just important — it’s precious.
But if the Israeli, American, British, French, German, Nepali, Thai, and other lives taken by Hamas terrorists aren’t, then BLM becomes a bit of a misnomer.
May this writer suggest one that may more accurately match the radical stance currently being taken by the organization: OBLM.
After all, the group seems to be telling the world that Only Black Lives Matter.
Good luck with that, my friends.
Ashley Hayek is the executive director of America First Works, Chief Engagement Officer of America First Policy Institute, and author of "Beat The Elites."
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