What I am seeing on this thread is a lot of fear and hysteria.
No, the sky is not falling.
It's important to be a connoisseur of what you read. Someone is whipping up the right-wingers into a fever pitch. And it's not bereaved mothers of murdered Black children.
Marxism in the US is not going to happen, guys. You can relax about it. Breathe. Notably those of you who do not even live in the United States and are not US citizens.
(I'm a US-born citizen and taxpayer who lives in Canada.)
If some Black Lives Matter advocates are Marxists, that's their prerogative under the First Amendment. Just as your prerogative is to be a far-right Libertarian. Marxists do not represent the political views of the millions of Americans of all ethnicities who support Black Lives Matter. (See this recent poll by the respected Pew Memorial Trust.
https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/202...-support-for-the-black-lives-matter-movement/ )
Yes, there are self-proclaimed leaders and organizations. They certainly do not represent the entire movement which is far larger and more diffuse. By analogy, you wouldn't argue that the Pope is the leader of everyone who believes in God.
In an interesting contrast to the right-wing "Red under the Bed" hysteria, my little town in western Canada held a peaceful demonstration in support of Black Lives Matter. Not a Marxist in sight-- or an African American, for that matter, because the border is closed to most traffic. Many similar peaceful demonstrations have been held internationally.
Following the rally in my community, some high school students posted Black Lives Matter slogans in chalk on a retaining wall as my husband and I happened to drive by. They included "Defund the Police." I wondered how our local Mounties would feel about that.
I later read in the local paper that a passerby started haranguing the girls. The RCMP stopped by, chatted with them, and later came by with some Gatoraid and candy for them.
To 99% of sensible Americans, "defund the police" doesn't mean abolishing police departments. Big Duh-uh, there. It means re-directing funds from unsupportive, militaristic policing into social services that best address the needs of the community.
Too often police are simply not the ones with backgrounds in mental illness crises, domestic violence, and drug addiction. Sometimes rogue police officers do not follow their own regulations. Of course, some police departments and individual officers are much better in addressing social issues than others. "Defund the Police" simply means more attention to getting at the roots of crime.
"Defund the police" is an eye-opening slogan designed to get your attention. Don't worry. Your local police department isn't going away. Hopefully your municipality will rethink its emphases, however.
OK, now, feel calmer and better?