Are the Wall of Moms the real deal – or a distraction from a bigger truth?

Fall-out in Portland, writes Andrew Buncombe, underscores complexity of struggle for racial justice triggered by killing of George Floyd

Chapters of group have sprung up in several cities (Getty)

All of us in the media are sometimes prone to fall for something shiny and bright. And why not? A major part of journalism is to report on things that are new. That’s why it’s called the news.

It was appropriate and understandable, then, that when images emerged from the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in Portland of groups of women, most of them white, linking arms and staring down the police, they would receive lots of headlines.

“The Moms Are Here’: ‘Wall of Moms’ Groups Mobilise Nationwide”, said one. “What Does It Mean to ‘Look Like a Mom’,” asked another. A third read: “Trump’s Troops push back against the Wall of Moms.”

But now the headlines are about fallout and anger, about people quitting the group and setting up a rival organisation. They are about claims that despite the best intentions of many of those who took to the streets to demand racial justice and even to protect protesters of colour, “anti-Blackness showed its ugly head”.

Donald Trump and those who denounced the women as “anarchists who hate our country,” will likely take pleasure from the news reported by Oregon Live, that “Portland’s Wall of Mom crumbles amid online allegations by former partner”.

In truth, the episode provides all of us pause to ponder the complexity of the protests and the demand for racial justice triggered by the killing of George Floyd that are sweeping the nation. It is an insight not only into how seemingly similarly-minded people might have divergent aims, but also into how the protests’ core message can be diluted.

For organisers, it presents an opportunity to consider how to guard against this. For many of us, it raises difficult, pressing questions as to how white people can be “good allies” in the struggle taking place, not just in the US, but across the world.

“It is complicated, because we know, based on our media’s preferences, how quickly any story about black lives gets shifted to a story about white lives,” says Christina Greer, professor of political science at New York’s Fordham University.

“Lots of people welcome diverse coalitions. But there are lots of black mothers who have been protesting and forming a wall for months and years.”

She adds: “We always have to remember how movements can get co-opted by well intentioned people who might not be doing it themselves, [and] can become the centre of the story and not necessarily the people that they’re protesting for.”

Portland’s Wall of Moms was established this summer to offer support to the BLM protests taking place in the city, where police were responding with batons, tear gas and riots shields. From the outset there was an admission about the privilege and whiteness of many of those taking part.

There was a stated belief that police may pause before using their batons against a human chain of women dressed in yellow T-shirts, as opposed to a group of regular BLM protesters.

“CALLING ALL MOMS: We meet each nite at 8.30pm at the Salmon Street Fountain. We walk over to the Justice Centre together at 9:00pm,” said an early Facebook post.

Its website sought to highlight the plight of black individuals and asked the media to speak to black community leader, rather than the group itself. One of the founders, Bev Barnham, who said she identified as Mexican-American, told an interviewer she had not been politically active until Floyd’s death while in the custody of Minneapolis police.

“I look back now and think – how could I have been so, not blind, but uncaring. Unwilling to motivate myself to use my voice in a meaningful way. I have a lot of regrets,” she said.

One of the co-organisers, Jaclyn Pritchard, told The Independent: “We’ve been tear gassed. We’ve been shot at with rubber bullets. We’ve been pushed, shoved, called names by the [Department of Homeland Security] officers. We’ve been hit with batons,”

Last week, Barnham registered the group as a non-profit, as chapters of the organisation sprung up in cities from Chicago to Seattle. At the weekend, one white protester in Seattle, Kristin Mowery, explained she sought to put herself in front of non-white protesters in the belief she would be less likely to be beaten or hit by police. “I am trying to weaponise my whiteness,” she said.

Last week, the group said its white leadership was giving up their positions for black women. Among the new leaders were Teressa Raiford, executive director of Don’t Shoot Portland.

Despite that, it appears controversy was mounting.

Some members claimed the group’s original focus was shifting from “black lives matter, to “all lives matter”.

This week, that controversy erupted via the group’s official Twitter account. “Wall of Moms started with a social contract: Defer to BLACK voices. Shield BLACK bodies. The people who joined this movement of mothers did so under that understanding. The founder, Bev Barnum, decided to BREAK that social contract,” said the start of long thread that made a number of accusations.

It added: “Obviously this is not Bev who is tweeting. This is the RESISTANCE making sure that the truth is known about this organisation from here forward.”

In a Facebook post on Wednesday apparently written by Barnum and mentioned by Oregon Live she wrote: “The announcement of the 501c3 really hurt some of you,” she wrote. “That was never my intention. In fact, it was just the opposite."

Neither Barnam, Raiford or the Wall of Moms website respond to enquiries about the fallout.

Now, Don’t Shoot Portland has urged people not to support the Wall of Moms. “The lies are finally clear and we are sad but ultimately not surprised that anti-Blackness showed its ugly face with Wall of Moms,” it said on Instagram.

Another organisation, Moms United for Black Lives, has been established overnight. Meanwhile, a post on Wall of Moms' Twitter handle, says: “Hey team, by now y'all have heard about the drama unfolding. Lots of us are trying to regroup and do things the right way. No official announcements yet - standby. #BlackLivesMatter.”