The first thing we have to ask ourselves is “What is Marxism?” I would venture to guess that most people who would throw around this claim regarding Black Lives Matter don’t even understand Marxism. We are programmed to conjure up fear of Communism and Russian invasion at the mere mention of Karl Marx and the Marxist Philosophy.
I have been doing some reading to educate myself on Marxist Philosophy. In general I am making a concerted effort to pull back and educate myself before posting online. I wish more people would do this. It would lead to more educated and thoughtful conversations. Many people would actually open their minds and learn something to boot. Imagine that! I digress.
First of all we have to understand that “there is currently no single definitive Marxist theory." (Marxism) At its core Marxism seems to focus on the means of production and class struggle. It seems in general that a marxist would argue that capitalism exploits the worker (the proletariat) to the benefit of those who “own the means of production.” (the bourgeoisie) (Marxism) The belief is that this imbalance is unsustainable and eventually leads to heightened class struggle and revolution.
Based on the core of this definition I can see the parallel one might draw. Black Lives Matter could be seen to push the narrative that the black community in America is the proletariat. They are the exploited working class that works to produce for the benefit of he bourgeoisie, our white controlled system. Our country was certainly founded under this principle.
The difference is that I do not see any indication that Black Lives Matter is claiming that capitalism doesn’t work. What the movement seems to be seeking is equity. They want representation in the bourgeoisie. The conditions that generated this exploited working class have existed since the inception of our country and now we are seeing the signs of revolution to pull power from the bourgeoisie. If you are going to subscribe to this interpretation then you have to acknowledge the class in our society that owns the means of production. The numbers for racial imbalance of this class are not hard to find. Only about 3.2% of this class is black.
The real problem with labeling Black Lives Matter is that the conversation stops there. It is a tactic from the institution that is working to maintain the status quo and uphold white supremacy. Delving deeper into that conversation would force you to face the claim that there is an exploited working class. That is hard to defend given the statistics of racial imbalance in the controlling class that makes up the executives of production and our governing bodies.
Claiming Black Lives Matter is Marxist is a fear tactic used to label the movement as a danger to America. It’s the same tactic that has been used for many years to label black men as dangerous and violent. It is the same tactic that has programmed the minds and reflexes of our peace keepers to default to shooting first and asking question later when faced with a person of color. This claim of Marxism is not based in sound political or economic theory. It is a racist claim that is working to keep America white.