To the Editor:

There is going to be a Back the Blue rally in Potsdam. This absolutely should not be happening. The organizer, Joseph Gallagher, has said that it is not a partisan protest against Black Lives Matter.

Looking to Back the Blue’s associated FaceBook pages and their website at Act for America, we see Thin Blue Line flags dotting the pages, messages like “blue lives matter”, “police lives matter”, and “all lives matter”—but a complete refusal to endorse Black lives matter. This is also happening immediately following the courageous activism led by Black Lives Matter North Country.

So, let's be real, this Back the Blue rally is a protest of Black Lives Matter.

To evaluate the Back the Blue rally, we need to understand the morality of protesting Black Lives Matter. For starters, it is disturbing that anyone would initially look at a slogan like “Black lives matter” with skepticism.

Looking further at the explicitly stated goals and purposes of the movement’s creators, Garza, Tometi, and Cullors, we see that Black Lives Matter is “a response to the anti-Black racism that permeates our society and also, unfortunately, our movements. Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.”

Please step back from the contentiousness and partisan nature of this debate and ask yourself—how could a person ever take issue with any of that?

I suspect that those who would defend taking issue with Black Lives Matter would have some similar questions for me. For instance, how could I take issue with honoring first responders? I don’t. My support of Black Lives Matter has very little to do with individual police or individuals at all. All of the worst examples of white supremacy and anti-Blackness are perpetuated by institutions and systems, even though individuals are complicit in them and may be on the receiving end of them.

It is the current manifestations of white supremacy that we have been protesting this summer behind the courageous leadership of Black Lives Matter North Country. And, remember, there have been no shortage of incidents reminding us of this history just this summer. We have seen hate crimes in Saranac Lake, Bloomingdale, Plattsburgh, Canton, Cohoes, and Massena.

Please join me in condemning anyone who cannot support Black lives!

Matt LaVine

Potsdam