CNN commentator Van Jones says white liberals are more to blame than the Ku Klux Klan for impeding the advancement of social justice issues for black people.
In reaction to this week’s riots in Minneapolis, which began after video emerged online showing the arrest of George Floyd leading up to his death, Jones said black people should worry more about white, liberal, Hillary Clinton supporters than members of the white supremacist group.
“It’s not the racist white person who’s in the Ku Klux Klan that we have to worry about. It’s the white, liberal, Hillary Clinton supporter walking her dog in Central Park who would tell you right now, ‘Oh, I don’t see race. Race is no big deal to me. I see us all as the same. I give to charities,'” Jones said during a CNN appearance on Friday. “But the minute she sees a black man who she does not respect, or who she has a slight thought against, she weaponized race like she had been trained by the Aryan Nation. A Klans member could not have been better trained to pick up her phone and tell the police, ‘It’s a black man, African American man. Come get him.'”
Jones added that well-intentioned, white liberals have a “virus” in their minds that embolden racial prejudice against black people.
On Thursday, Jones said he has not seen the black community this upset in at least 20 years, calling for cultural change among white people in addition to substantive legislation to address racism.
“If you are white and are you watching this, look in your own life,” he said on Thursday. “How are you choking off black dignity? Choking off black opportunity? Choking off black people from asking an opportunity to thrive? Because it’s not just that officer. This is a much deeper problem. How are all of us complicit in this? And how are all of us allowing this to happen?”
Protests in the city of Minneapolis began Tuesday after footage showed a police officer kneeling on the neck of Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, for approximately eight minutes until he became unresponsive. Floyd was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Multiple buildings were set on fire late Thursday night as protests erupted into violence. Hundreds if not thousands of protesters swarmed the city’s police’s 3rd Precinct, setting the building on fire. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey addressed a room of anxious reporters following the events in an early Friday morning press conference.
“The symbolism of a building cannot outweigh the importance of life, of our officers, or the public,” Frey said. “We could not risk serious injury to anyone, and we will continue to patrol the 3rd Precinct entirely. We will continue to do our jobs in that area, and you know, brick and mortar is not as important as life.”
