What Albert Camus Can Learn Us About #BlackLivesMatter.
Especially now that Donald Trump wants to silence and criminalize the protests.
US President Donald Trump is doing everything possible to dismiss the explosion of anger as criminal and terrorist acts. But a person who says “no” cannot be easily dismayed. It is an essential lesson from French philosopher Albert Camus (1913–1960).
“What is a rebel?” Camus wondered in his classic L’Homme Revolté (1951) (English: The Rebel). His answer was clear: “A man who says no, but whose refusal does not imply a renunciation. He is also a man who says yes, from the moment he makes his first gesture of rebellion.”
Man has an intrinsic urge for resistance; we learn from Camus. Protesting can be a starting point for each of us. “Man,” he wrote, “is the only creature who refuses to be what it is.” To disagree is essential. To be critical to power too. It is an attitude Camus himself practiced. L’Homme Revolté was sort of a reckoning with the philosophy of Georg Hegel, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Soviet-communism. Politically, Camus was always on the side of the (politically) oppressed, the exploited, the poor.
Saying ‘No’ comes with a risk. But if you know something is not right, a principle No is the only way. Not only that. It is in the rebellion that man discovers that he or she is not alone. The fellow man can be in the same position. These imperfections of our existence connect us. These externalizations are pushing boundaries. “Here, and no further.” Standing tall and saying ‘No’ becomes much easier if you know others support you. Should to shoulder: “I’m rebelling, so we are.”
“The spirit of rebellion can only exist in a society where a theoretical equality conceals great factual inequalities.” The inequality worldwide (and certainly in the United States) make his analysis more relevant than ever. Man is the measure of all things. He, therefore, expresses a grave necessity for solidarity in this sometimes absurd world. This call for solidarity is coming back, and transforming the US, with #BlackLivesMatter & #JusticeForFloydGeorge, but also worldwide.
This time it goes much further than the protests in 2016.
BlackLivesMatter
BLM is more than a protest. It is a rebellion. The masses got fed up with harmful racial, skin-color inequality. Enough is enough. The question remains: What is the value of black life? It’s one of the most critical issues, even to this day and age, especially if you look at the history of racial inequality and discrimination in the US (and worldwide).
The danger lies in being resentful. Resentment can become the biggest enemy of this movement. Jealousy can cloud and drive away from the growing solidarity. It is rooted in envy and greed for power. It often results in violence, looting, riots.
Yet this should not cloud the ultimate goal of the BLM-movement. This movement has been steadily building up, on solidarity, through moral strength, inside and outside the black community. BLM must keep saying ‘No’ until they reach their ultimate goal: that black people will be valued as people. As everyone. Still, that’s not the case.
Criminalize
I don’t know if current president Donald Trump is so excited about that. He announced on Twitter that “#ANTIFA” will be on the list of terrorist organizations. Right-wing radical politics in times of Twitter. His leadership is morally reprehensible. First of all, Antifa itself does not exist. There are anti-fascists, and there is anti-fascism. Second, it is clear what Trump is trying to do. He designates anyone who protests against racism, against his government, against his policy as a member of Antifa and therefore: a terrorist. A criminal. It is dangerous.
Third. It means that when you say ‘No,’ as Camus taught us, Trump answers that you don’t belong in society. According to him, “saying no” is putting yourself outside the community. That sounds pretty authoritarian. Being critical will be criminal. That is a dangerous precedent. It is how the radical-right and fascism can thrive quietly and smoothly within the state structures of today’s democracy. “I’m not saying ‘No,’ so I’m part of society.” We should be wary. We should not be silenced.
Camus writes, “I resist, so we are. I oppose a meaningless life. But we must all resist meaningless life. We have to say what we are against and what we are for. And when we do that, we have a connection, solidarity. We know from each other that we are in the same situation, where we are dealing with the same fears and the same alienation.” Anti-fascism becomes a political and moral responsibility for our society. We have defeated fascism before, and we will beat it again.
We will not be silenced.
Because thanks to Trump, white nationalism is now experiencing a new heyday, he has normalized racial hatred. It benefits his political agenda. He tries to steer the conversation on his failed corona-approach in a different direction and appeals for that to his most extreme supporters.
BLM is good for society. It functions as an essential wake-up call. The right to life applies to everyone. People support each other in that. When others are victims of oppression, it can be a motivation to act. If someone is being wronged, it can be an agitator act. This sense of identification can lead to solidarity with the Other. There is a vast colossal strength in that. The powers fear this.
The meaningful power of the number is more powerful than the number of retweets or electoral weight. Just ask Trump. Solidarity can bring down a government. Without a doubt. I don’t know now if that will be the case in the US. Yet there is immense moral support and solidarity worldwide for #BlackLivesMatter, from movements, politicians, companies, and organizations. We can make the world a better place. That’s what it was all about for Camus. That’s what it’s about for #BlackLivesMatter.
We will not be silenced. Not now. Never.
“The only way to deal with an unfree world,” we learn from Camus, “is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”
Together we are stronger.
