Black Lives Matter Seattle is hosting their fifth annual shopping crawl on Black Friday, in which they will boycott white-owned businesses.
An announcement was posted on their Facebook page, followed by thousands. They even created a hashtag for the event, #BlackLivesMatterFriday.
“This year we will shop black only and boycott White businesses that hurt (the) Black community,” the event declaration reads.
This is, by any measure, is racist. Imagine for a moment any group on Facebook saying they would boycott black businesses and shop for white only. Why is this not a violation of Facebook’s vaunted ‘community standards’?
Black Lives Matter Seattle announced another boycott of “white businesses” — an announcement they made on Facebook and Twitter, which are white businesses to them. How about you shop where you want AND fight inequality in the way you think appropriate? https://t.co/4FHP4s9xqr
— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) November 16, 2018
Black Lives Matter has a history of racism towards white businesses
This isn’t the first time a group associated with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) banner has singled out white businesses in an attempt to hurt them.
Some supporters in Houston, in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, encouraged looters to ransack only white-owned businesses or those run by supporters of President Trump.
In 2014, the group essentially held the Mall of America hostage by staging die-in protests, leading stores to temporarily close and dozens of arrests taking place. The following year, the Mall of America outsmarted them, filing for a temporary restraining order.
And just last year, a BLM group in Los Angeles tried their hands at a similar boycott. They encouraged shoppers at Christmas time to spend their money only at black-owned businesses in an attempt to “resist white capitalism.”
Seattle, we have a problem
The idea to patronize black-only shops in Seattle has seemingly hit a snag. In their announcement, BLM Seattle linked to a nationwide “platform for black businesses” that serves 11 major cities – none of them named Seattle. Actually, none of them are in the entire state of Washington.
They did offer another link with listings to businesses in the Seattle area, though few if any will have major Black Friday discounts.
Of the 16 listed stores, 10 fall into the category of either a daycare, health care business, or law firm.
How would consumers be assured that the businesses they go to on Black Friday are black-owned? Because they’re listed on a website registry that anyone can sign up for?
How does one know the group isn’t just trying to push people to businesses run by their friends?
Any time BLM advocates race as a means to promote or hinder businesses, be wary of them trying to line their own pockets or benefit those close to them.
Case in point, Shaun King, Black Lives Matter instigator, had his Real Justice PAC contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to a pair of consulting firms that are linked back to the same PAC.
King has previously been accused of mismanaging funds with other organizations.
Maybe it’s best simply to patronize businesses you feel comfortable with, that have a good reputation, and offer products you enjoy. Instead of going to stores you’re told to, or donating money to organizations based on the owner or fundraiser’s skin color.
