The Utah chapter of Black Lives Matter is facing criticism after publishing a lengthy rant demanding that everyone who flies the American flag is “racist.”
The group published the controversial post on the Fourth of July.
“When we Black Americans see this flag we know the person flying it is not safe to be around,” Black Lives Matter Utah wrote in their post that included an image of the flag.
“When we see this flag we know the person flying it is a racist. When we see this flag we know that the person flying it lives in a different America than we do,” the post continued. “When we see this flag, we question your intelligence. We know to avoid you. It is a symbol of hatred.”
The anti-American rant continued in a second post from the group on July 6.
“Now I have started a huge controversy. The media now has a hold of it. the controversy stems from me calling the American flag a symbol of hate. I stand by my words,” the post stated.
The group went on to list people that they disagree with politically who have carried the American flag.
“If you see that every person that hates you is carrying an American flag how would you feel about that flag? If every message of hate that you receive comes from a person flying that flag, how would you feel when you see that flag,” they continued. “I feel fear. That is not up for debate. I feel like the person flying it is racist, because every racist that I have come in contact with is either wearing that flag or flying that flag. I feel as if I should avoid that person because they may be dangerous.”
They added, “I told the world that the American flag is a hate symbol. And the world erupted in rage.”
The author went on to say that a member of their organization called them and asked them to take it down because it was divisive. Instead of taking the words to heart, they accused the person of being a bad “ally” and asserted that people have to accept harm to themselves in order to be one.
“We had a long talk. I explained to him that I HAVE to make you uncomfortable. I have to push you. Change is not achieved easily. Allyship is not real unless you are uncomfortable and you have something to lose. It is so easy to throw that Black Lives Matter sign up in your yard and throw on a Black Lives Matter shirt and to claim that you are an ally. That is not allyship. Allyship is confronting your employer who just denied a Black person a job, knowing full well you could lose yours for standing up,” they wrote. “Allyship is being in a crowd of people that you respect and love who just said something racially insensitive and you call them out, knowing that you are outnumbered and you will lose friendships. Allyship is filming that police officer who is profiling a Black person. Standing there and let your presence be known even though your life could be in danger.”
The New York Post reports that “the groups claimed it also ‘received death threats’ — closing down the comments section and vowing to donate $3 for every negative comment toward helping re-elect progressive ‘Squad’ member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).”
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