Black Lives Matter co-founder says black homeowners are fighting ‘white supremacy’ after $3million luxury property binge
BLACK Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors is facing criticism after she said black homeownership is a method of fighting white supremacy.
Critics of Khan-Cullors and the BLM movement are calling her a hypocrite following her recent home purchases that reportedly totaled $3.2million.
In her post to Instagram, Khan-Cullors shared an NPR article that detailed the long history of racial disparities in American homeownership due to the government's history of , such as redlining.
"Thank you @npr for highlighting the history of racism inside of the housing market and why Black homeownership has always been a way to disrupt white supremacy," Khan-Cullors said in her .
Comments on the post were mixed, with some agreeing with Khan-Cullors' statement and others calling her a hypocrite for owning multiple homes.
In April, the reported that Khan-Cullors went on a "buying binge" and purchased several high-end homes. This prompted critics to call her a , claiming without evidence that she was making a profit from donations to Black Lives Matter.
Khan-Cullors soundly rejected the claims, saying she has several other sources of income, including two book deals, public speaking, and teaching at a college.
A fact check from found there was no evidence to suggest Khan-Cullors' housing purchases were made with funds from the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation.
In a statement to USA Today, Khan-Cullors said she was paid a total of $120,000 by BLM since 2013 for her roles as a spokesperson and educator.
Still, some commenters on Khan-Cullors' Instagram continued criticizing her for her purchases.
"Oh look, the grifter who’s making millions off of claims that literally everything is racist, is claiming the housing market is racist," one person commented. "And right after she bought a few houses for herself."
Another added: "BLM Buy Large Mansions."
Many others were thankful that Khan-Cullors shared NPR's story and said they have had witnessed racism in the housing market.
"This is what structural racism looks like," one person said.
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"At one point we couldn’t even own ourselves. To become a homeowner is freeing. It's our way to financial freedom and to change the narrative," another supporter said.
Following the initial story on Khan-Cullors' home purchases, Hawk Newsome, a BLM leader based in New York, called for an "independent investigation" into how the BLM organization spends its money.
“It’s really sad because it makes people doubt the validity of the movement and overlook the fact that it’s the people that carry this movement," Newsome told the New York Post.