In an interview on Face the Nation this past Sunday, Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, didn’t hold back in levying harsh criticism against the Black Lives Matter movement in light of the recent Dallas shooting which resulted in the death of five police officers.
“I believe I saved a lot more black lives than Black Lives Matter,” Giuliani said on the morning show. “I don’t see what Black Lives Matter is doing for blacks other than isolating them.” He also went on to categorize the movement overall as being “inherently racist.”
While many are afraid to speak out against Black Lives Matter, Giuliani proved that it can and should be done, even in the face of backlash. Giuliani backed up his statements regarding the movement on Fox and Friends Monday morning, saying “When I was Mayor of New York I took over 1,924 murders the year before I was Mayor. I brought it down to about 500. Mike Bloomberg brought it down to about 300.”
According to these calculations, Giuliani estimates that he has saved roughly 7,000 to 8,000 black lives during his time in office. The former New York mayor explained that he believes the group is “inherently racist” because it “divides us” and because the group “never protests when every 14 hours somebody is killed in Chicago, probably 70-80% of the time (by) a black person.”
Giuliani made it clear that just because he isn’t afraid of calling out Black Lives Matter doesn’t mean he won’t point out problems with police brutality. “I put 70 police officers in jail,” he told Fox and Friends. “I am perfectly capable of understanding when police officers act improperly and they should be made an example of when they do.”
Many felt that Giuliani’s comments were incredibly offensive. James Blake, a former tennis player who was wrestled to the ground by police in September, responded harshly, saying:
“It’s just shocking that someone that’s ever held public office or that’s gotten to anywhere that he’s gotten in his life could have that kind of view on it, because Black Lives Matter is something where we’re persecuted, where we’re dealt racist blows every day of our lives, and for him to say that and to cheapen it by saying ‘white lives matter’ would be considered racist or ‘black lives matter’ is racist is just so unknowing. Someone that so has blinders on to the fact that black men, black women were treated so differently in every day life, that it’s really sad.”
It’s time that conservative students take after this amazing example set by Mayor Giuliani, and not be afraid to speak out against this movement. Black Lives Matter may be intimidating, but the simple use of facts can prove that their movement is inherently flawed.
