John Sommers II/Reuters
In an astonishing op-ed for The New York Times, conservative TV host Glenn Beck expressed deep empathy for the Black Lives Matter movement and expressed disappointment in his cohorts for failing to see the humanity in the group’s concerns. Just like the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street, Beck wrote, every political movement has its share of instigators, and they should not be seen as representative of the true believers. “My take on Black Lives Matter has not changed 180 degrees, but it has certainly evolved,” he conceded Wednesday, before recalling how he’d met several movement leaders and found them to be “decent, hardworking, patriotic Americans.” He added: “No movement is monolithic. The individuals I met that day are not ‘Black Lives Matter’; they are black Americans who feel disenfranchised and aggrieved; they are believers; they are my neighbors and my fellow citizens.” Beck concluded: “We need to listen to one another, as human beings, and try to understand one another’s pain. Empathy is not acknowledging or conceding that the pain and anger others feel is justified. Empathy is acknowledging someone else’s pain and anger while feeling for them as human beings—even, and maybe especially, when we don’t necessarily agree or understand them.”