MSNBC anchor Joy Reid talked about the rise in support for the Black Lives Matter movement from non-Black and -brown people following the murder of George Floyd in May in an appearance on NBC’s Late Night With Seth Meyers.
Reid, who has been covering the Black Lives Matter movement since Trayvon Martin’s killing in 2012, told Meyers on Wednesday’s Late Night that the difference in leadership has led to the uptick in support.
“You had empathy in the White House, that desire to embrace the movement and bring them to the White House, to talk to them,” Reid said of the Obama administration. “Now you have the flip-side of that. … You have a president who’s completely unsympathetic and hostile to Black Lives Matter.”
The Reid Out host went on to explain that while the Black Lives Matter movement may seem relatively new, the fight for equality and justice has its roots in slavery. Throughout America’s history, she said, the movement has just gone under different names, including the civil rights movement.
She said that when protests against police brutality and racism occurred in 2012, “white America really rejected this movement,” despite the President Obama’s support. Now, with a leader who seems against the goals and demands of the social justice movement, Reid said the public is on the side of the Black community.
“That is a huge change, and it’s an important change,” she added. Reid went on praise protestors in Portland who have been attacked by law-enforcement officials while standing in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
“It’s not just a Black people concern, this is the public realizing if they’re coming for Black lives, they’re eventually coming for yours. They’re eventually coming for your security and peace,” she said. “All of us have to be in this together.”
Watch the interview below.
