Black Lives Matter calls the DNC “hypocrites” who are trying to “manipulate black voters by anointing Kamala Harris”

Kamala Harris is set to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee after Joe Biden dropped his candidacy on Sunday. But not everyone is joyful with the undemocratic process. After receiving enough pledges from party delegates on Tuesday to secure the nomination, Black Lives Matter (BLM) announced that it would not accept the Democratic Party’s candidacy. make a devastating statement against “installing” Harris. Instead, the group called for an “informal, virtual primary across the country before the Democratic National Convention.”

In a statement, BLM outlined grievances with the Democratic Party’s tactics during the primary process, including refusing to hold debates despite voters demanding them, suggesting it may have demonstrated Biden’s cognitive decline in 2023. The racially motivated activist group also criticized changes to the primary schedule that disadvantaged non-Biden candidates, disqualifying them from the ballot and paving the way for the incumbent. BLM claimed that party elites and wealthy donors “bullied” Biden out of the race after a single impoverished debate performance, thereby undermining the voice of millions of Black voters who participated in the primaries.

D’Zhane Parker, a leader of the BLM movement, said:

Let us be clear: This is about the Democratic Party following a process that protects the legitimacy of a future Democratic president after this unprecedented moment. Installing Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee and an unknown vice president without a public election process would turn the contemporary Democratic Party into a Party of hypocrites.

BLM further accused Democrats of “manipulating black voters” by “anointing” Harris and an unknown vice president without allowing for voter turnout, writing:

Now the elites of the Democratic Party and the billionaire donors Attempt to manipulate black voters by appointing Kamala Harris and an unknown vice president as a novel Democratic slate without a popular primary. This blatant disregard for democratic principles is unacceptable. While the potential outcome of a Harris presidency may be historic, the process to get there must be consistent with genuine democratic values. We have no idea where Kamala Harris stands on the issues now that she has taken Joe Biden’s place, and we have no idea what her potential vice president will be like because we don’t even know who it will be yet.

The statement further compared the lack of an open electoral process to dictatorships and oligarchies:

We do not live in a dictatorship. The delegates are not oligarchs. Any attempt to circumvent or ignore the will of the voters in our primary system – no matter how historic the candidate – must be condemned. We call for an informal, virtual primary since the incumbent president is no longer in the race.

BLM also criticized Democrats’ hypocritical rhetoric about democracy, writing:

Over the past few years, the Democratic Party has repeatedly proclaimed that “democracy is on the ballot” to persuade black voters to participate in the upcoming general election. They have portrayed it as the most significant election for democracy in our lifetimes. But democracy is not just an ideal that must be protected from Republicans; it must also be protected from erosion within the Democratic Party. Calls for “unity” must not come at the expense of democracy. The Democratic Party, which has defended democracy the loudest, is now willing to engage in some of the most undemocratic maneuvers to avoid listening to the will of the voters.

In a social media post on Monday, professional basketball player Kyle Kuzma wrote:

All these threats to democracy make me wonder why a party did not let its party vote for a candidate

BLM quoted Kuzma in a tweet, writing:

We ask the same thing, brother

We ask the same thing, brother https://t.co/Dm3sGrwYx7

— Black Lives Matter (@Blklivesmatter) July 23, 2024