BLM St. Paul Founder Who Quit Says Black Lives Matter Is ‘Racist’ Against Black Children Over Charter Schools

Demonstrators holding placards reading "Black Lives Matter" during a protest in Philadelphia, Pa., on Oct. 27, 2020. Mark Makela/Getty Images

The founder of a Black Lives Matter chapter in St. Paul, Minnesota, said the left-wing organization engages in a form of racism because it opposes school choice.

Rashard Turner, who left Black Lives Matter, released a video on May 26 saying he learned the “ugly truth” about the group operates and claimed that “they had little concern for rebuilding black families, and they cared even less about improving the quality of education for students in Minneapolis.”

In a June 2 interview with Fox News, he said Black Lives Matter publicly signaled opposition to charter schools, which, according to him, was “a direct attack on black families” and “on black children.”

Black Lives Matter has “been co-opted by teachers unions, specifically at the national level, the American Federation of Teachers, and here locally in Minnesota, Education Minnesota,” Turner said. “These teachers’ unions own the Democrats, they own BLM; and teachers’ unions, in my opinion, they kill our children’s hopes and dreams. So, if we’re thinking about black children—doing what’s best for black families—we have to start with education.”

Black Lives Matter and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 2016 both publicly called for a moratorium on charter schools, which received significant pushback at the time.

Black Lives Matter’s main organization didn’t respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

Turner, in the June 2 interview, said that Black Lives Matter has made questionable policy proposals over the years.

“I mean, there’s no way on earth, after these two past school years, that folks can think that things like education savings accounts aren’t going to be good for families,” Turner said.

“I’ll tell you, there’s not one black family in my neighborhood here in St. Paul, that has said, ‘Hey, we don’t want that money to follow our child.’ Anyone who’s in opposition to school choice, charter schools, you’re right, I’d say they’re a racist. Because we know that charter schools are creating opportunities, we know that that money that is supposed to be educating our children.”

His comments come amid criticism of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors over her finances and real estate holdings. Cullors last month announced that she would depart the organization but described the move as a planned arrangement, while denouncing reports about her extensive real estate portfolio as part of a “right-wing” smear campaign, according to an interview with The Associated Press.