In mid-August, Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters marched through a Seattle neighborhood demanding that the white property owners give up their homes. The neighborhood, which has undergone gentrification, was once predominantly black. One protester said,
Give black people back their homes! You’re sitting there comfortably — comfortable as f—k as if they didn’t help gentrify this neighborhood! I used to live in this neighborhood, and my family was pushed out, and you’re sitting up there having a good time with your other white friends!
The protesters fail to understand how markets operate. When demand for housing in a particular area of a city rises, prices tend to increase. Long-time residents often sell their homes to take advantage of the higher prices. They aren’t pushed out–they are bought out. They engage in the transaction voluntarily.
That the protesters don’t understand this isn’t surprising. They aren’t interested in freedom, liberation, or justice, all of which are rational values. BLM is interested in destroying values.
Wikipedia describes gentrification as “a process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses.” This usually occurs in high-crime and economically depressed areas. In most instances, gentrification reduces crime, increases economic activity, and improves the general character of the area. Rational people would consider this to be a good thing, but BLM isn’t comprise of rational people.
BLM doesn’t like gentrification because it usually shifts the demographic makeup of the area. Often, it changes the area from predominantly minority to predominantly white. And this, to BLM, isn’t a good thing. According to BLM, what was once black should always remain black.
BLM doesn’t applaud the reduction in crime. Instead, it calls for the police to be defunded. BLM doesn’t rejoice at the economic growth and general improvements. Instead, it considers them to be signs of white supremacy. The police, economic growth, and improvements in a neighborhood’s character are values. BLM isn’t about values. It’s about destroying values. Consider the riots instigated and led by BLM after the death of George Floyd.
Since early June, it has been widely reported that an estimated $2 billion in property damage has been caused by “protesters” who resorted to looting, vandalism, and arson. The damage wasn’t isolated to a single city or two. It occurred in cities across the nation. The protests weren’t about voicing opposition to a perceived injustice. They were an excuse to destroy values.
In words and in actions, BLM has made its fundamental motivation clear. Those who refuse to take them seriously do so at their own peril.