Black Lives Matter Movement Opposes Charter Schools

Black Lives Matter Movement Opposes Charter Schools

Here’s another follow-up article to our post on the Black Lives Matter protests.

An article posted on the website The Daily Signal (“Former Black Lives Matter Leader Says Movement Is ‘on the Wrong Side of History,’” by Kelsey Harkness) caught our attention because it combines several seemingly disconnected themes: the Black Lives Matter movement, some views of one former leader in the movement, public education, parental involvement, and school choice. (Photo: Rashad Turner)

The tipping point occurred in August, when outside the Minnesota State Fair, Turner and his St. Paul Black Lives Matter chapter were caught on video chanting, “pigs in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon,” referring to police.

. . . When he joined Black Lives Matter, Turner thought he had found his calling. A criminal justice major at Hamline University, it felt like a perfect fit. But in a turn of events, just days after that controversial protest, Turner, 31, abruptly stepped away from the movement.

The reason? Turner said he caught wind that Black Lives Matter national was calling for a moratorium on charter schools. The platform was released earlier in the summer, but at the time, Turner said he “wasn’t aware of Black Lives Matter’s quietly dished out vision.”

“When I heard,” he said, “I decided to run as fast as I could the other way.”

. . . “If we can reform our education system, if we can make sure that every student has a high quality school to attend that meets their needs, I think that we can eliminate a lot of the ills that we see in the world,” [Turner] said . . . .

Turner’s story is also an excellent reminder of the truth that when we attempt to stereotype or pigeonhole people we will often be profoundly mistaken, since people are individuals and are rarely one-dimensional in their beliefs.

(Read the full Daily Signal article here.)

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