Some white conservatives are expressing their disdain after it was announced Black Lives Matter and Stacey Abrams were nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.
“Wait so Donald Trump brings peace to the Middle East, and blm is nominated for the Nobel peace prize? Is anyone else confused or is it just me,” tweeted actor and producer Kevin Sorbo, best known for his role as Hercules in the hit television series of the same name.
“The Marxist and violent BLM organization nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize? Are we being punk’d?!” Fox Nation host Tomi Lahren tweeted. “BLM groups spent months setting our country on fire and now they’ve been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize?! Liberalism is a mental disorder. I’ll discuss with the crew on @OutnumberedFNC in 10 mins.”
Another user, @rayman47, wrote, “what the Hell is happening to Our America now we celebrate bad acts and or groups of thugs.”
“What did she do to promote peace? Stirred up hatred and bigotry not peace – no unity just strife between parties and people – disgraceful!” a Facebook user identified as GreggSusan Stein wrote of Abrams’ nomination.
The conservative criticism came Monday, Feb. 1, after news of the nominations broke. The racial justice movement was nominated by Norwegian Parliament member Petter Eide. He said he nominated the group “for their struggle against racism and racially motivated violence.”
Eide, 61, said BLM has been a catalyst for raising awareness about inequality, not only in the U.S. but across the globe.
“I find that one of the key challenges we have seen in America, but also in Europe and Asia, is the kind of increasing conflict based on inequality,” Eide wrote in his nomination papers. “Black Lives Matter has become a very important worldwide movement to fight racial injustice.
Eide added giving BLM the coveted peace prize would send an important message.
“BLM’s call for systemic change have spread around the world, forcing other countries to grapple with racism within their own societies,” Eide wrote. “Awarding the Peace Prize to Black Lives Matter, as the global strongest force against racial injustice, will send a powerful message that peace is founded on equality, solidarity, and human rights, and that all countries must respect those basic principles.”
Abrams was also nominated by another Norwegian Parliament member, Lars Haltbrekken. He said Abrams’ work to boost voter turnout and combat voter suppression in Black and other disenfranchised communities is reminiscent of Dr. Martin Luther King’s efforts during the Civil Rights Movement. King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
“Abrams’ work follows in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s footsteps in the fight for equality before the law and for civil rights,” Haltbrekken said. He added her “efforts to complete King’s work are crucial if the United States of America shall succeed in its effort to create fraternity between all its peoples and a peaceful and just society.”
Founded in 2013 after George Zimmerman was acquitted after killing unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, Black Lives Matter’s “mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.”
Abrams is credited with helping turn Georgia blue through her work with Fair Fight after narrowly losing the state’s gubernatorial race in 2018.
While many white conservatives are in a tizzy over the nominations, other social media users celebrated the nominations.
“On the first day of #BlackHistoryMonth we learn that Stacey Abrams was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. She is truly an inspiration,” @JakeLobin tweeted. “Beautiful and so deserved. They are the 21st century equivalent of Dr King’s peaceful activism for justice and equality,” tweeted user @YaiKavel of Black Lives Matter nomination.
