Since 2014, when Black Lives Matter (BLM) first reared its ugly head, the rise in mostly black-on-black violence has further endangered communities. The biggest uptick in violent, bloody homicides occurred after COVID lockdowns and the death of George Floyd.

Lockdowns and the Ferguson Effect

Fox News cites the FBI Crime data website with these startling numbers: “Murders across the board spiked by nearly 30% in 2020 compared to the year prior, according to FBI data, marking the largest single-year increase in killings since the agency began tracking the crimes. Among Black Americans, the number of deaths spiked by more than 32% compared to 2019.” The article continues, “The figures are more staggering considering White Americans make up 76% of the population compared to Black Americans representing only 13%, according to Census data.”

Blacks represent 13% of the population and yet commit 39% of homicides. Of all homicides, 56% of all the victims are blacks. Why this huge disparity?

The lockdowns were a huge part of it. Idle hands are the devil’s plaything, after all. But there is also the Ferguson Effect to consider. According to researcher Heather Mac Donald, who coined this idea, “The Ferguson effect refers to officers backing off proactive policing in minority neighborhoods and the resulting increase in violent crime.” I.e., the police back off because they have become the villains, and the resulting chaos is worse. George Floyd’s death in 2020 had the added fervor of bored, frightened people wanting to right an injustice, and the resulting aftershock of crime was terrible.

CRT and BLM Are a Union Created in Hell

The ensuing outcry from the BLM activists saw a rise in the teaching of critical race theory (CRT), which preaches that America is built on a “white” framework with “white supremacist” pillars of power and institutions. Any minority cannot succeed within this “white system” and therefore is always a victim. White people are always the oppressors because they are the ones in power, according to the tenets of CRT. BLM uses CRT to bolster the idea that because every institution is racist, the police are also racist and should be dismantled.

Many leftist cities heeded the call of these activists and defunded their police. The numbers, though, don’t lie. It is not a coincidence that violent crime has spiked now that law and order has been restricted. More recently, BLM has been revealed as the scam artist that it is. It raked in millions of charity dollars, ostensibly to make a positive change for their communities, but those communities haven’t seen much if any of that money. Even during the height of BLM’s influence in 2020, when there were riots in the streets, BLM ignored black lives that are suffering as a result of the perverse ideas that defunding the police would “help.”

BLM still maintains that there is systemic racism because of the disproportionate number of black people in prison. This has led to other horrible ideas enforced by George Soros-funded activist attorneys, namely bail reform. All “bail reform” has accomplished is to put criminals back out on the street to continue to victimize their neighborhoods and commit increasingly horrendous crimes.

The Consequences

The biggest consequence has been the devolving of safety in black neighborhoods. Bail reform, a stunted and crippled police presence, and an overall lack of deterrence for these types of crimes is making some neighborhoods unlivable.

Another more public consequence of these poisonous fruits is the rise in terror attacks on the American public in general. There was the Waukesha killer at Christmas, the BLM activist who tried to assassinate Louisville mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg, and, most recently, the Brooklyn subway shooter. All of these people espoused black nationalist beliefs.

There has also been a rise in race hate hoaxes. These range from middle school-aged children all the way to high-profile cases such a Jussie Smollett. The frequency of these hoaxes alone should cause people to question the BLM narrative. These hoaxes are incredibly bad for any community because they cheapen actual hate crimes.

The consequences of the flawed ideology espoused by BLM, especially pertaining to the “defund the police” movement, has cost thousands of black lives. Unfortunately, when there aren’t enough police, when the law isn’t enforced, and when the deterrents are removed from stopping violent crimes, neighborhoods are made more dangerous. It is tragic that this was allowed, even encouraged, to happen by many who will never have deal with the consequences.