Outreach

Rand Paul: Let’s Take the Black Out of Black Lives Matter

Written by SK Ashby

After lecturing civil rights activists on the high cost of their activism, Rand son of Ron told Fox News host Sean Hannity the Black Lives Matter movement needs to change their name and remove the black part.

I think they should change their name, maybe — if they were ‘All Lives Matter’ or ‘Innocent Lives Matter,’” Paul said during an appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show. “I am about justice, and frankly I think a lot of poor people in our country, and many African-Americans, are trapped in this war on drugs, and I want to change it. But commandeering the microphone and bullying people and pushing people out of the way I think really isn’t a way to get their message across.”

If you want to get high Rand is your man, but if you'd rather not be extra-judicially killed, you'll have to look elsewhere. Or I suppose you could just stop being black as Rand Paul suggests.

If you were to rename the movement to All Lives Matter or Innocent Lives Matter, the movement may as well not exist. No one needs to be told or reminded that all innocent lives matter unless those innocent lives are black. White-washing it would negate the purpose of its existence.

Black Americans are disproportionately harassed, arrested, incarcerated and killed and there is every indication the average white American is comfortable with that.

If "commandeering the microphone" makes Rand Paul uncomfortable, that's exactly the point.

The fact that we are discussing this is proof the movement has had an impact, but discussion alone is not enough.