Welcome to Byron York’s Daily Memo newsletter.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here to receive the newsletter.
THE REVOLUTION DEVOURS ITSELF IN PORTLAND. Remember the Wall of Moms? In just two weeks, the group of women supporting rioters attacking the federal courthouse in Portland have received fawning attention in many media reports. “Activist moms are everywhere,” said the New York Times. “They sing lullabies. They link arm-in-arm, forming a human barricade between protesters and federal agents. Some wear respirators, gas masks and helmets. Some hand out sunflowers.”
The Times reported that Wall of Moms groups are forming around the country. Seattle, Oakland, Aurora, Colorado, Missouri, North Carolina, Alabama, Texas, Chicago, and more. It’s a truly national movement! But then, a hint of trouble: “The Wall of Moms groups consist of predominantly white women who have garnered a swell of attention that Black mothers protesting in Portland for months did not receive, participants and organizers said in interviews.”
Now, it looks like a racial divide is destroying the original Wall of Moms in Portland. The Oregonian has published a new story, “Portland’s Wall of Moms crumbles amid online allegations by former partner, Don’t Shoot PDX.” The paper reported that members of a black-led group, Don’t Shoot Portland, which has existed for six years and is affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement, have accused the leaders of Wall of Moms of “anti-Blackness.”
Subscribe today to the Washington Examiner magazine that will keep you up to date with what’s going on in Washington. SUBSCRIBE NOW: Just $1.00 an issue!
Trouble was brewing last week, the Oregonian reported, when Wall of Moms announced on Friday “that its white leadership had rescinded their positions to allow women of color to be in charge.” But that wasn’t enough. On Wednesday, Don’t Shoot Portland took a very big shot at the Wall of Moms, charging that the group is only interested in driving federal law enforcement out of Portland and perpetuating itself — not in supporting black causes.
“The lies are finally clear and we are sad but ultimately not surprised that anti-Blackness showed its ugly face with Wall of Moms,” Don’t Shoot Portland wrote in an Instagram post. “This all came to light over the last 24 hours. We began having safety concerns within the group because Black women started saying they were not protected by WOM leadership.”
Don’t Shoot Portland was particularly angry that Beverly Barnum, the white founder of Wall of Moms, has filed papers with the state of Oregon to register Wall of Moms as a business — a 501(c)(3) charity organization that is capable of receiving tax-free contributions. The president of the new organization would be — you guessed it — Beverly Barnum. Barnum acted in secret, Don’t Shoot Portland charged, “and without the knowledge of the Black leadership WOM was claiming to implement.” Don’t Shoot Portland even helpfully provided links to Barnum’s filings.
So now, riven by racial strife, the future of the newly-incorporated Wall of Moms is unclear. Remember the saying from the American intellectual Eric Hoffer: “Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.” Wall of Moms transitioned from the movement stage to the business stage in record time — a matter of days. It may already be well on its way to becoming a racket.
So at the very moment the national media celebrated Wall of Moms as a movement spreading across the country, singing lullabies and handing out sunflowers, the original Wall of Moms in Portland was collapsing from its own internal tensions. Should anyone be surprised?
