Subscribe
NewsOne Featured Video
CLOSE

Protesters in Minnesota are being criticized for chanting “pigs in a blanket, fry them like bacon” during a Black Lives Matter march Saturday at the Minnesota State Fair. Even though a march organizer says it was a 30-second chant in a protest lasting for four hours, that one line has drawn the ire of conservatives and many others.

Push-back has intensified in recent weeks, with some even attempting to deem Black Lives Matter a “hate group,” as well as to blame the recent Houston shooting of Deputy Sheriff Darren Goforth on the movement.

Rashad Turner, one of the leaders of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, joined Roland Martin on NewsOne Now to discuss the controversy over the “pigs in a blanket” chant and the perceived conservative backlash against the movement.

Turner told Martin, “The problem that we’re getting caught up in is people are interpreting things to however it fits their narrative.”

“So to keep it real with y’all, we had police officers that were chanting with us, who were making jokes about ‘Everybody loves bacon.’ So I don’t know — the video makes it seem however it makes it seem, but on the ground, the people were having fun with it. The officers were having fun with it, and a lot of people are upset,” he said.

Turner admitted that “it might not be the best chant,” but understands “people feel a certain way, people have experienced certain things, and may chant something that is a little more radical than what people are used to, but I feel like we have to be respectful to how people feel.”

When asked if the media would have covered the march had they not used the inflammatory rhetoric, Turner said, “I don’t think so.”

“I don’t think that mainstream media has really shown that Black lives do matter to them. I think they spend a lot of time trying to spin things and the thing that is crazy … all of this uproar over a chant, over rhetoric, and there is not that same uproar over what our reality is as Black people,” he said.

“I would love to think about the fact that one of us is killed every 28 hours, I would love for that to be rhetoric and not reality.”

Watch Roland Martin and #BlackLivesMatter activist Rashad Turner discuss reaction to the Minnesota Black Lives Matter protest that has conservatives and others upset in the video clip above.

Mark your calendars! TV One’s NewsOne Now moves to 7 A.M. ET starting Monday, September 14th. Until then, be sure to watch NewsOne Now with Roland Martin, weekdays at 9 a.m. EST on TV One.

Subscribe to the “NewsOne Now” Audio Podcast on iTunes.

SEE ALSO:  Watch: Bill O’Reilly Threatens To Put #BlackLivesMatter “Out Of Business”

Don’t Miss Our Hottest Stories! Get The NewsOne Flip App for iPhone: Flip, Skip — Or Send Us a Tip!