By Leo Pond
The Black Lives Matter movement has driven another political “wedge” between the left and the right. The Black Lives Matter movement has advocated against police brutality and for equality, so why is it so hard for the right to support it? The right thinks that this movement forgets about all other races, but what they don’t understand is that we said Black Lives Matter, not “other races don’t matter.” The movement also advocates to defund the police (a radical idea to Republicans) and that is what the right uses to bash the movement. Those Republicans who say that the police help keep us safe are the same people who argued a month ago that they need guns because the police can’t protect them. Black Lives Matter is about fixing the systemic racism that the police and the government have been steeped in for years. Republicans say we are starting a race war but we’re not, we’re trying to end the one that has been going on since the United States was founded. Whether it was the war on drugs (that unfairly targeted people of color) or it was the constant police brutality problem in this country, the United States hasn’t done enough to advocate for equality. Black Lives Matter advocates for equality, so why won’t politicians say it? It’s time that we vote out politicians that like votes more than what is good for their constituents.
Leo Pond is a 14-year-old political columnist from Chittenden.