It’s an unfortunate part of the life of any social media crusade. Once the original idea gets out there and makes some progress, the jackals start circling, sniffing for their share of the blood. And what used to be a heartfelt plea for justice becomes a dead carcass, snarled and snapped over for the leavings, having lost its original impulse and forward momentum, its vitality sapped by the demands of special interest groups. Unfortunately, the Black Lives Matter crusade is approaching this stage. And that’s too bad, because the only way an issue as basic as racial prejudice is going to be fixed is by a grassroots effort. This means reaching down to the lowest common denominator. It means baby steps. Any support is support, and it needs to be nurtured, no matter how misguided or lagging behind. Basic premise; when the intent of your movement is for people to be inclusive and accepting, any sort of fragmentation is not a good thing.
But what I’m seeing now on social media are a whole bunch of splinter groups who have their own version of The Way, and are pulling everyone in different directions. The main result is that they are pushing support away in droves.
Acronyms
Any time you use an acronym on Facebook, you are reaching out to the select group of people who know what it means, and cutting out all the people that it doesn’t. Sure, you can be aghast that someone doesn’t know what POC means. Yes, you can self-righteously tell him to Google it. But if you’re in the business of reaching out to people, you don’t force them to communicate at your level. The point is to persuade people to care about your issue, not to force them to meet your standards.
If you really want to reach out to others, take some tips from marketing. Make it easy for them to receive your message. If your audience doesn’t get your message, don’t expect the audience to change; change the message.
The Holier-Than-Thou Cadre
Social Media are full of “mea culpa” posts about how we have to dig down inside ourselves and root out the merest tinge of bias. Making everyone else feel inferior about not doing the same. These people want us to take the scalpel to society and excise any hint of bias. Sounds like a great idea until you remember that the Nazis said the same thing about rooting out the Jews.
Message to take away; social change is not accomplished through sackcloth and ashes. It’s achieved by taking each individual where he or she is at the moment and moving that person ahead one little step at a time.
The “I Want a Slice of That” Brigade
The Black Lives Matter movement is on a roll right now. They’re getting some much-needed and much-deserved publicity, a lot of it positive. So everybody else who is jealous of their success is jumping on the bandwagon. “White Lives Matter.” “Police Lives Matter.” “All Lives Matter.” Of course they do.
Lesson to take away; just because something is true doesn’t mean that now is the time to say it. Butt out and let them have their time in the sun. Social progress is progress, no matter who makes it. Support my issue now, and I’ll support yours later.
The Control Junkies
Now it’s not good enough to support Black Lives Matter. You have to do it the right way. You have to say the right things to the right people. The Political Correctness Mavens have taken over, and are trashing anyone who isn’t a “true supporter.” I kid you not. There are numerous posts online about “How to Show Your Support.” Full of great advice like, “If you’re white, don’t call us up and tell us how upset you are about the situation. We don’t want to be inundated with your messy emotions.” Gosh, I’m so sorry.
Got news for you, folks. If you expect the whole world to instantly jump to a perfect response to your message, you’re going to be disappointed, and you’ll probably take it out on those who haven’t come up to your standard. Then you attack them and turn them away, and lose the support they were offering.
Lesson to take away; there are all sorts of issues out there for a caring people to throw their weight behind. Yours is only one, and if you drive supporters away, they’ll find a more welcoming cause to put their energy into.
The Revenge Seekers
When Mahatma Gandhi invented passive resistance, I doubt if he envisioned the next step after success: the taking of revenge on those you have defeated. The campaign against police violence is a perfect example of this. Americans, with their deeply inbred penchant for battle, cannot see the irony of a war against violence. But the moment “Stop Police Violence” gained momentum, what’s the rallying cry? “Defund the Police!” No, better than that, “Abolish the Police.” Yep, punish those bastards for what they have done.
I cannot conceive of a better way to rally believers in a more authoritarian police force than an attack of this sort. If you are trying to reform the institution, you have to deal with its strongest supporters: those who look to the police for security and safety. Do you really think that by attacking their security you’re going to gain the support of these people?
You’d think the Americans would be the first nation to understand that a war against other members of your society is the most destructive action a group of people can take. You want the police to be kinder, gentler, and less biased. What do you do? Attack them, cut their funding, reduce their numbers, scare their supporters silly. Very intelligent.
The Bottom Line
Inclusion is in. Anyone’s support at any level is progress. Every person you insult, troll or frighten away is a step back for your cause.