In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, support for the Black Lives Matter movement skyrocketed. But that support has slipped in recent weeks as the protests drag on and become marked by the violence and unrest taking over America’s cities.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for many people to look at the Black Lives Matter movement and see past the destruction in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the 100 days of rioting in Portland, Oregon, and the looting that has affected private businesses in Chicago, New York City, and other parts of the country.
It’s hard to blame them. A recent study conducted in part by Princeton University found that hundreds of protests connected to the BLM organization became violent, even if the majority of organized events were peaceful. Indeed, there were nearly 570 violent demonstrations (many of which were declared riots by local law enforcement) in nearly 220 locations across the country, according to the study.
The point of the study, of course, was not to focus on the violence, but to downplay it by labeling the “vast majority of BLM protests” as “overwhelmingly peaceful.” But the statistics speak for themselves, which is why many people are becoming concerned with the turn that the BLM movement has taken. In Wisconsin, for example, support for the BLM movement dropped from 61% to 48% this summer. Pollsters in Virginia found similar results.
In other words, people are, to a certain extent, no longer willing to entertain a movement that can’t keep its priorities straight and the bad-faith actors out. The public supported the BLM movement when its end was justified and relevant, but that end has since been swallowed up by the chaos of the riots. Take, for example, Portland, where city officials have agreed to strip law enforcement’s budget and forbid police from using defensive maneuvers against protesters. These concessions were in the activists’ original list of demands, and yet, the riots continue.
And as long as they do, public support for the BLM movement and its goals will continue to drop — rightfully so.
