The President of the Czech Republic, Milos Zeman, told an audience this week that “Black Lives Matter” is racist.
Zeman added, “The slogan Black Lives Matter is racist because all lives count.”
Of course, he has a point.
#Czech President Milos Zeman while visiting the US Ambassador’s residence in #Prague, said the slogan #BlackLivesMattters is racisthttps://t.co/16vppaL5HO pic.twitter.com/vuP3A550e9
— Prague Morning (@PragueMorning) July 1, 2020
Die Presse reported (Translated)
Milos Zeman based his statement on the fact that “all lives count”. You don’t need “new ideas leaders”.
Czech President Milos Zeman has described the slogan “Black Lives Matter” as “racist”. He said this on Tuesday at a reception at the US embassy in Prague on the upcoming State Day (July 4) of the United States, Czech media reported on Wednesday.
“The slogan ‘Black lives matter’ is racist because all lives count,” said Zeman against the backdrop of current global protests triggered by the death of African American George Floyd on May 25 during a brutal police operation in Minneapolis. Zeman criticized the damage to monuments and the lighting of cars.
According to Zeman, who was formerly party leader of the Social Democrats, society in the Czech Republic and in the United States should retain the freedom to form different opinions. “I don’t need new ‘big brothers’, no new leaders. Independent thinking and sound reason are required,” says Zeman.
Activists of the movement repeatedly emphasize that the slogan “Black Lives Matter” is not used to balance the lives of black people against white people. Rather, it shows structural racism in the US and elsewhere; The slogan draws the attention of the world public to the situation of black people. This does not mean that the life of white people is not important.
