Duggar Family Accused of Pretending to Care About Black Lives Matter Protests
Regardless of whether or not you live in a city in which protests are taking place, by now, you're certainly familiar with the sights and sounds that have characterized the past week in America:
The shocking footage of the police murder of George Floyd, chants from protesters, crowds being doused with pepper spray by overzealous authorities ...
It's the sort of situation that forces even conservative public figures -- such as the members of the Duggar family -- to speak out in some way.
Of course, several members of the Counting On clan have remained silent amid the protests, and if they were to speak out, it would likely be against the protesters and in favor of the immediate restoration of law and order, no matter the cost.
But as the recent rebellion against Jim Bob has taught us, some of the patriarch's adult children are tired of pretending to agree with his more backward and bigoted views.
There's a conversation to be had about why they went along with his nonsense for so long, but it's hard to overstate the power of brainwashing, especially when the process begins at birth.
Not surprisingly, the two Duggar women who have thus far felt the need to risk angering their family's fan base are the two who are currently on the outs with their ultra-conservative father.
Jill Duggar's husband, Derick Dillard, is in a feud with Jim Bob that shows no signs of stopping.
So perhaps it should come as no surprise that Jill is one of only two Duggars to speak out in favor of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Yes, the above meme is a very mild statement of support, and a statement of how Jill intends to use her platform to draw attention to issues facing the black community would be preferable.
But it's a start -- and as a bonus, it probably royally pissed off Jim Bob.
The identity of the other Duggar to go against her upbringing in order to do the right thing should come as no surprise.
Jinger Duggar and Jeremy Vuolo live in LA these days, so not only are they exposed to new ideas and diverse communities that would make Jim Bob's hair stand on end, they've also been witness to that city's massive protests.
The experience has clearly had an effect on Jinger, who joined millions of others in posting a black square on her Instagram page on Tuesday.
"Made in the image of God. Psalm 8:3-5," Jinger captioned her post.
The social media "blackout" that took place this week was criticized by some as counterproductive, and that feeling was reflected in the comments on Jinger's post.
"Jinger- can we please get a #blackouttuesday hashtag or something? Like.." one fan wrote.
"Thank you for the post. Can you consider using your profile to amplify Black voices?" another added.
"Words matter, and while this is something, it does not explicitly address the true problem that is racism in this country."
A Patheos blog devoted to exposing Duggar hypocrisy summed up the situation rather bluntly, writing:
"Jeremy and Jinger Duggar Vuolo paid lip service to the notion of not being racist."
It's true that Jinger has yet to say anything substantive on the matter, but her efforts seem to be having an interesting effect.
While the other members of her family have remained silent on the matter as individuals, the official Duggar Instagram page shared her post on Tuesday.
Again, it may not be much, but you know that when the Duggars -- of all people -- are beginning to see the light, major change is afoot.
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