So there was a White Lives Matter protest in Houston yesterday

On August 22, 2016, a White Lives Matter rally was held in Houston’s Third Ward.

Located at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s office, the rally included a crowd of about 20. Some waved Confederate flags. Some of the participants carried assault rifles and wore bullet proof vests. One woman carried a sign that read, “14 words”, referring to the white supremacist slogan, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”

Scott Lacy, a White Lives Matter member told KPRC TV they were protesting because: “the NAACP headquarters is here and that’s one of the most racist groups in America.” Another protester, Ken Reed, explained to the Houston Chronicle they are also against the NAACP for their failure to hold the members of the Black Lives Matter movement accountable for their actions. Wearing a “Drumpf 16’” hat, Reed stated, “Their organizations and their people are shooting people based on the color of their skin. We’re not.”

Reed was more than likely referring to the recent Dallas and Baton Rouge killings of police officers. However, the attacks were carried out by Black Nationalist gunmen, who had no affiliation to the NAACP and Black Lives Matter movement; the two organizations denounced the attacks shortly after.

Being in a historically Black neighborhood, the rally quickly drew attention, and was met with a counter-protest. The White Lives Matter rally was soon outnumbered by upset locals. Some of the people verbally responded, while others just looked on in disgust, but no one was hurt between the two protests.

While there is nothing wrong with speaking your mind and standing up for your beliefs, one should completely think through what they are protesting.

I understand they believe Black Lives Matter should be held accountable if what they do is against the law and harms people in the process. However, the NAACP’s purpose is to, “ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.”, while the purpose of the Black Lives Matter movement is to,” campaign against violence and systemic racism toward Black people.” Even though the two organizations are tied to the Black race, the NAACP mainly deals with the legality of it all, while BLM is a social movement.

In fact, if Lacy and Reed wanted the NAACP to denounce BLM (even though they didn’t need to) for racist behavior, it would mean the organization would definitely have to do the same of the white supremacist White Lives Matter group. While BLM’s focus is on Black America’s peace of mind in regards to police brutality, they aren’t devaluing other races. Instead of dismissing the issues plaguing Black America by chanting “All Lives Matter”, White Lives Matter is dismissing Black America as a whole.

Yes, Black Lives Matter needs to work on a few things in order to be as successful as the NAACP and violence as a whole need to cease, but waving Confederate flags and rifles is not the way to voice this. In fact, their actions shed light on why we want change in the first place.