Did it occur to anyone at the SI Yankees how alienating this is to fans who have been deeply affected by the events that spurred the “Black Lives Matter” movement, including those right here in Staten Island?
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“We have a huge crowd, and there’s an overflow – people the school are trying to figure out how to accommodate”, Clinton said in a possible reference to the group at the beginning of her forum on substance abuse at Keene Middle School.
The website reports that members of the families of two fallen police officers, Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, were present at the game.
“Maybe we should have seen it coming, but we were so focused on helping the families from day one that that’s where all of our thought has gone”, he said to Yahoo News. “It was a great day”.
Supporters of Black Lives Matter, who have long been critical of the “Blue Lives Matter” copycat slogan, didn’t appreciate the timing.
Staten Island is the borough that’s had a history of ignoring the issues that plague African-American lives (note Eric Garner’s death). They were standing under a tent outside the school doors as the event began, but eventually made it into the building to watch in a side room.
And for the SI Yankees to have staged the event on the one-year anniversary of the Brown incident – less than one mile from the scene of his death? Writing on The Root, cultural critic Kirsten West Savali said the promotion sent the message that “black lives don’t matter to [the Staten Island Yankees] or the Yankees organization”.
Similarly, Judd Legum, the editor in chief of the liberal blog Think Progress, argued that Blue Lives Matter is insensitive in that it draws attention away from victims of police violence. The shooting sparked a year of protest against police brutality.
Staten Island Yankees senior director of marketing Michael Holley, apologized for the insensitivity the team displayed by hosting Blue Lives Matter and added that “our goal is to support those in need, and NOT to provide ammunition for the political and social battles that we are all facing”.
In response to all the criticism, a representative of the team claimed no intent to upset “black lives matter” supporters and regarded the whole thing as an “unfortunate coincidence”.
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“Carson ameliorated his remarks a tad, saying, “[O]f course we should be very concerned about what’s going on, particularly in our inner cities. The group knew that both deceased officers’ families were baseball fans, he said. “We are open for anyone who needs help as a platform to raise money, regardless of affiliation”.
