Consider this phrase:
buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo
Yup. That’s an actual sentence. Now, I’m going to add some punctuation and capitalization.
Buffalo buffalo, Buffalo buffalo buffalo, buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
That’s probably not a lot clearer.
The sentence means: “Buffalo from Buffalo, NY, that are confused by buffalo from Buffalo, NY, intimidate buffalo from Buffalo, NY.”
What makes this work is that there are many different meanings of the word “buffalo”. Here are a few:
- Buffalo, NY (notice the word is capitalized)
- To confuse someone
- To intimidate someone
- The mammal commonly referred to as a buffalo
Yeah, it’s a thing. Just start typing “buffalo” multiple times in Google and it will pop up.
Now that you’re warmed up, consider the phrase: Black Lives Matter
There are three ways of interpreting the words “Black Lives Matter”. They are:
1. “Black Lives Matter” (with quotes) interpreted literally, meaning that the lives of people with black skin are significant.
2. “Black Lives Matter” (also with quotes) referring to a specific context that supports the Black Lives Matter narrative. To make this easy to see below, I’m going to use all caps. So, when I say, “BLACK LIVES MATTER”, I’m referring to this point.
3. Black Lives Matter (without quotes) referring to the BLM movement.
I know it’s confusing but it’s important that everyone understands this. Because those different meanings are being used to purposely confuse, mislead and, sometimes intimidate people.
Let’s do a practice run to make sure we’re all on sync:
It’s possible to not support Black Lives Matter but still believe “Black Lives Matter.”
If you interpreted that to mean that you can disagree with the BLM movement but still believe the lives of people with black skin are significant, then you get it.
Let’s try another one:
It’s possible to disagree with the phrase “BLACK LIVES MATTER” but agree that “Black Lives Matter”.
In this case, we’re saying that it’s possible to disagree with the ideology of the BLM movement but still believe that the lives of people with black skin are significant.
Hopefully you all get it by now. Why is this important? Because the BLM movement, and the people who support it, pick and choose how they hear the words someone says. They misrepresent what is said and then brand that person a racist.
If you say you disagree with Black Lives Matter (the movement) they play stupid and accuse you of saying that you don’t agree that “Black Lives Matter”. So, you’re a racist.
If you say that you disagree with “BLACK LIVES MATTER” (the ideology) they pretend not to know what you’re saying and claim you don’t believe the lives of people with black skin are significant. So, you’re a racist.
The Black Lives Matters movement doesn’t recognize that “BLACK LIVES MATTER” doesn’t mean “Black Lives Matter”. By purposefully ignoring the literal meaning of those three words, they make it nearly impossible to disagree with them without being called a racist. It’s diabolically ingenious.
Unfortunately, it also has the effect of causing people who don’t understand the subtleties of language to act irrationally.
Many of the people who support the Black Lives Matter movement also mimic this behavior, without understanding how they’re being manipulated by this clever use of language. They let their passion for the cause blind them to the fact that they are being confused and exploited. So, they obediently destroy things, block traffic, scream in people’s faces, harass diners trying to enjoy a meal and otherwise bully people so only the BLM message is heard.
In other words:
Americans, that Black Lives Matter buffalo, buffalo other Americans. Put more simply: Americans who are confused by the Black Lives Matter movement, intimidate other Americans.
To make a long post short, if you purposely pretend to misunderstand what someone says, or intimidate them to further the BLM cause, then you have been buffaloed.
