Thread by @aaronlmorrison

I never relish the opportunity to discuss how @TuckerCarlson talks about #BlackLivesMatter, as a movement, or anything related to the humanity of people who exist in Black bodies on this Earth. But here I am.

Yesterday, Mr. Carlson discussed the increasing popularity of Black Lives Matter, as a movement, and he warned that BLM supporters are taking over the country. (A clear dog whistle.)

His segment:
My AP story about BLM’s popularity: apnews.com/347ceac3ea0897…

I don’t take issue with Mr. Carlson’s right to spout his opinions on Fox News’ airwaves. But I do take issue with his decision to mention my uncle, George Murray, to make a (dangerous) point about the need for authoritarian figure willing to stand up to BLM and protesters.

Here, Mr. Carlson takes oft-referenced remarks from my Uncle George out of context. Mr. Carlson fails to the mention why Black students at @SFSU had a reasonable fear for their safety at a time of upheaval over civil rights struggles in the late 1960s.

I encourage Mr. Carlson (and really, everyone) to watch the 2018 @PBS film “Agents of Change,” which throughly examines the dynamics that existed on the SF State campus where Black and Latinx students fought together for equity in higher education. amdoc.org/watch/agents-c…

Yes, my Uncle George was the Minister of Education for the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in Oakland, California. He was not, as Mr. Carlson insinuated, a domestic terrorist. And the BPP was NOT the “Antifa of its time.” My uncle taught English.

And yes, he was the center of a controversy over the rhetoric used by him and other activists to secure a place in academia for Black students and Black educators who wanted their history, their struggle & their triumphs reflected in the curriculum. Here, a clip from the PBS doc.

What Mr. Carlson also failed to mention is that the Black and Latinx students ultimately WON their fight. After student-led protests, which were met with a similar amount of force we saw during the Floyd unrest, SF State established the nation’s first Black studies department.

So again, I don’t care if Mr. Carlson gets primetime slots to gin up fears about BLM and Black freedom fighters. But he is not entitled to his own set of facts about a very well documented history. I urge him to rethink his approach to discussing these topics. Good faith needed.

My Uncle George is one of my biggest influences. I am an alum of @SFSU and it’s fantastic journalism department, graduated 40 years after my uncle’s firing. I took undergrad classes in the Black studies department, which he fought so hard for at great personal risk and sacrifice.

I will not sit silent while Mr. Carlson or anyone else distorts my uncle’s legacy and obscures the facts to serve his argument.

Also, there already is an authoritarian force standing up to BLM. In some places, we call them militarized police and prosecutors.

God bless.