Pseudo-left groups push identity politics on seventh day of St. Louis protests
By
Genevieve Leigh and George Gallanis reporting from St. Louis
22 September 2017
As police in full riot gear with batons in hand stood by, hundreds of peaceful protesters gathered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri Thursday evening on the seventh day of protests over the acquittal of white police officer Jason Stockley for the 2011 murder of Anthony Lamar Smith, who was African American.
In a marked shift from previous days of protest, Thursday night’s event was dominated by pseudo-left organizations promoting racialist politics. The protest was officially named a “White Allies Only” rally, where white people were asked to come out to support Black Lives Matter.
Nearly four hundred protesters met early in the evening at Kiener Plaza Park in downtown St. Louis for the event. From there, they marched to nearby Busch Stadium where a Billy Joel concert was taking place.
At one point in the protest, organizers of the rally requested that all white protesters move to the front of the protest in order to deter possible police confrontations. According to Black Lives Matter, the purpose of “white allies” is to “amplify and recenter the lives of black people while standing in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement.”
A leading organizer of the rally was a member of Socialist Alternative who repeatedly led the protesters in chanting “white silence is violence.” Multiple posters carried by protesters bore the statements “Black Lives Matter” and “White Silence = White Violence.” The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) fully endorsed the racialist narrative and promoted the event on their local Facebook page. Their…