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I don't think BLM is racist in the sense that many on the Right would have it: that a focus on 'White Privilege' is racist. Racism only ever punches down: you can't be racist towards the dominant majority.
The BLM movement has, however, flirted with anti-semitism.
BLM UK tweeted an explicitly anti-semitic trope in response to the fighting in Israel-Palestine in mid-2021, there have been instances of BLM marches focusing on Jewish areas, and BLM-affiliated groups have equated Israel with Nazi genocide.
Racism is about race, not numbers.
I am one person, but can be racist towards many.
If you can't be racist towards a majority, then the claims of White South African governments racism, by your own definition, were never accurate.
You're right to flag my use of 'majority' - I think the key bit is 'dominant'.
The question we're talking about has its own full opinion here: 'Racism requires prejudice plus power'
The notion itself that black lives matter is simply not racist at all. It is an objective fact. If black lives are treated as replacable and killed mercilessly at the hands of racists, often authority, then evidently they are not treated like they matter. And if they don't, then how can all lives matter? Often the arguments against it are very poorly veiled racist ideas to silence black voices from talking about their oppression which undeniably still occurs. No-one claimed that only black lives matter, it is simply a movement dedicated to the cause and there are various other movements for different issues for those who genuinely care and want to support them.
However, as Turi mentioned, this doesn't mean that the movement shouldn't be held accountable for the anti-semitic harm it has done. Being a part of or an advocate for certain communities does not mean you cannot be ignorant towards the plights of others or indeed have internalised prejudices about your own identity. These issues are complex and we should do what we can to hold those who are speaking on them with their platforms to a high standard. Two things can be true at the same time and supporting BLM is not racist at all, but this doesn't mean the organisation does not have its own problems.
Overall, I interpreted this to be about the statement rather than the movement which is inherently not racist since it aims to uplift a community and raise awareness of the senseless pain they endure and to disagree that people who are different from you do not deserve to be heard and should merely suffer since you do not wish to hear it is what is truly racist.
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