The Brothers Bundy and Black Lives Matter

On Jan. 3, a group of armed extremists took hold of a government facility, the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters, in Oregon. They apparently want the government to hand over this public land to local ranchers, loggers, and miners.

The three brothers Bundy, whose father was in the BLM standoff in Nevada in 2014 over grazing rights, are supposedly taking this action in support of the Hammond men who are serving time in prison for burning public land.

Especially to the people in this area, their anger is understandable. People who work the land and depend on it for their livelihood don’t like being told what to do by the government. The Hammond family is well respected in their area, and their community’s reaction is similar to how we would probably feel in the same situation. The Hammond men, however, have released a statement distancing themselves from the actions of the Bundy brothers.

Protesting is a right. When our country handles issues in a way that we don’t agree with, we have every right to do something about it. Major changes in our society have been sparked by people’s protests, most obviously the Civil Rights Movement, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

However, it is important to realize the difference between the country’s reaction to the takeover of a government facility by an armed group and others that have happened recently. In Ferguson and Baltimore, marching protesters were met with military force. They were called “thugs.”

Why, then, are the Bundy brothers termed “armed protesters” by Fox News, and the AP refers to the protest as “peaceful?”

Les Zaitz from the Oregonian said, “In phone interviews from inside the occupied building Saturday night, Ammon Bundy and his brother, Ryan Bundy, said they are not looking to hurt anyone. But they would not rule out violence if police tried to remove them, they said.”

Black Lives Matter protesters have never taken over a government building, armed, and vowed to stay “for years.” Yet, when five protesters were shot at a rally in Minneapolis by white supremacists, the media barely blinked.

Honestly, I don’t care about the Bundy brothers, and I don’t think that they are going to get what they want.

However, it’s important to recognize that if they were Black Lives Matter activists, they would be arrested or dead by now. If they were Muslim Americans protesting the burning of mosques and the rise in violence against Muslims in our country, they would certainly be dead. And the media wouldn’t be calling them “peaceful” - even if they intended to be.

Of course, the extreme force against Black Lives Matter activists is exactly what they are aiming to protest. Looking to the Oregon stand-in and comparing it with the peaceful Black Lives Matter protests offers evidence toward why Black Lives Matter is an important and pertinent matter.