Waving Old Glory - Is It A Symbol
Of Hatred?
Guest Op/Ed
by Mrs. Darlene McDonald
Study shows that African Americans consume more news than any other group. I believe the reason for that is because disengagement is detrimental to our health and lives. It is a matter of life or death that we stay informed. That is why it is incumbent upon all of us to vote in every election. I'm not here to debate the merits of either political party. So, we don't need to say what the Democrats or Republicans have done for us. That's not the purpose of this post. We have an electoral college system and until that changes, we will always be a 2-party system. That's just fact.
As the leader of a targeted BLM chapter, Lex's words have weight. This is something I'm sure she's well aware. The media will go to her before they go to the NAACP. In this current movement and especially since the 2020 protests, I would guess that the media has reached out to Lex more than they have reached out to Ms. Jeanetta or Ms. Betty, both are President of Utah's chapters of NAACP. I also believe that if I do a search, that I will see Lex and or BLM-UT in the news more than the other two ladies, even though they've been doing this work for several decades and are relevant in this current movement.
There isn't a 'voice' for the Black community in Utah, and there shouldn't be because we are not a monolith. We don't all attend the same church and we don't all vote the same. However, roughly 99% of us feel the same about racial justice and racial injustices. When it comes to this, the media has sought out those they see on the front lines and those with the loudest voices, the biggest movement, and the force of energy. In this case, it is unmistakable that that energy has been with the movement called Black Lives Matter. It is what people see on the front lines, walking in front of everyone and leading the way. Within that movement, there are many faces, but those faces tend to be the same. Few people lend their bodies to a movement that could potentially get them killed.
All three of these ladies, Ms. Jeanetta, Ms. Betty, and Lex have worked directly with legislators on various issues that includes but not limited to police reform. As activists, each of us grow and mature in our activism. We become aware of the strength and power of our words. We learn quickly that a misstatement distracts from the cause we're fighting for. As activists, we seek mentorship and allies. As much as we try to avoid it, we can also make mistakes that does harm to the movement we're fighting for. As activists, we must seek mentorship, learn to listen and to recognize that the movement isn't about 'us' as an individual. It is about all of us, as people. If a movement is centered around a person, the movement is doomed to fail.
Black Lives Matter is a targeted organization.
Black Lives Matter is a targeted movement.
Black Lives Matter is a targeted phrase.
The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is a decentralized organization. Local Black Lives Matter chapters are asked to commit to the organization's list of guiding principles but operate without a central structure or hierarchy. There are 13 guiding principles. Most of us in this group are not actual members of the Utah branch, even if we support the phrase and the organization as a whole. Most of us have never attended a BLM chapter meeting or subscribe to their newsletter. We don't really know what they do as an organization except for what we see on their social media page or read in the newspapers.
I understand there are some personal feelings about the UT chapter based on previous experiences with who is perceived as the head of that chapter. The chapter does appear to have an hierarchy with Lex at the head. That organization must make a decision with how they proceed. Was the harm done over this detrimental to the movement? We all know what was meant. But, that is not the focus, and WE are doing a piss poor job of turning the conversation on what we should be talking about:
White supremacists HAVE co-opted the American flag as a symbol of division. When they attach their large flags to pick-up trucks, they do so to intimidate and to declare that this is THEIR country and THEY are taking it back. Ask yourself, would a Black veteran who doesn't align politically with that flag waving group, be safe? I personally don't think so. Why? Because they showed us.
White supremacists stormed the nation's Capitol on January 6th to overthrow the U.S government. They carried the battle flag of the Confederacy into the Capitol and walked the halls of Congress with it. That has never happened before. They used the flag pole with Trump and the American flag to beat police officers with it. They'd climbed a scaffold, brought DOWN the American flag and replaced it with a Trump flag.
Yes, there was a more tempered and measured way of saying what she said that wouldn't have resulted in this backlash and it wouldn't have provided the ammunition to her adversaries. It is also a shame that they would seek to divide black organizations over this, without speaking to the issue of what she was speaking to. When I'm asked about what she said, I immediately ask the question, "What are your thoughts on Capitol insurrectionists beating police officers with the flag?"
They'd rather talk about the BLM comment and not that. Do you wonder why?
We don't need to be divided on this. We can speak to what has been done by Supremacists using the American flag that makes it dangerous for most of us. We can do that without throwing anyone under the bus.
As for BLM-UT... as long as they have the word Black in their name they will be a target. As long as they have the words Black Lives Matter in their name, they will be a target. The organization must decided if this backlash and distraction is detrimental to their mission statement and if so, they must decide how they move forward. That's on them.
Darlene McDonald, is a former Democratic candidate for Utah's U.S. Congressional District 4 and former Chair for the Utah Black Roundtable.
