Dr. Tommy Curry is considered one of the most prolific U.S.-born race philosophers, so when he has an opinion on race relations, people listen. Recently, he took on Black Lives Matter.

Critical race theory is an area of specialization for Dr. Curry, whose research focuses on the Black male experience. Raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana, he is a professor of Africana philosophy and Black male studies at the University of Edinburgh in the U.K. In 2018, Dr. Curry won an American Book Award for his book “The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre, and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood.”

After making comments on racial violence in 2012 that were misquoted by a conservative website, Dr. Curry received death threats. “Being attacked online by white supremacists stains you in a certain way,” he said. He decided to leave the U.S. and take the teaching post in Scotland.

Founded in 2013, Black Lives Matter (BLM) rose to global recognition during the protests over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd in May 2020. Founded by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, BLM raised tens of millions of dollars. Garza and Tometi left the movement and Cullors recently stepped down as the executive director of the foundation following scrutiny over a lack of transparency in BLM funding and revenue as well as her purchases of several expensive homes. Cullors has a production deal with Warner Bros. and appeared in a TV commercial for Cadillac.

There have been some positives from the BLM movement — many cities have vowed to look into police reform, various companies have pledged to increase diversity and other civil rights organizations have seen an upswing in donations.

Still, according to Dr. Curry, no one has taken an in-depth look at BLM. He recently spoke about this in a video, which was posted Twitter.

Here are five takeaways from Dr. Curry’s observations of BLM.

On the BLM network… pic.twitter.com/KihjTCz9g0

— 📚pedagogy in black✊🏾 (@RenyTure) June 23, 2021

This professor is spot on. The existence of BLM is to make sure that no group that will actualize material change can occupy space within the public sphere. A symbolic placeholder

— amooo (@asteroidblues15) June 23, 2021

1. No questions asked

According to Curry, BLM has been operating without being questioned about its motives or inner workings.

“Why are we not asking the same questions of BLM we would ask of any other representative,” Dr. Curry said. “Do you have the interest of the people you claim to represent at heart? Do your policies and practice benefit the poor working-class Black folk you claim to represent? Has your action over the last six, seven years led to the decrease of death in those populations?”

2. Living it up

Curry said the lifestyle of BLM leaders should be looked at.

“I’m seeing Cadillac commercials, Warner Bros., someone just bought million-dollar homes. These are Black women who don’t represent the poor Black women…much less the poor Black men. We have to ask ourselves why are these leaders are being rewarded?”

3. In bed with white liberals

Curry asked, can politically connected community leaders truly help poor Black people? “We have a whole class of people who work for nonprofits who are in bed with white liberals, who are getting funded and have connections to the Democratic party and platform, and we raise no questions about their leadership? People who are getting rich, buying million-dollar homes. Nobody’s…exiled those women…we’ve become numb to asking questions,” he pointed out.

4. Where’s the help for police brutality victims?

“How is it possible that poor Black men are dying and being killed by cops and the people representing them to white society become millionaires, signing deals with Warner Bros. and Cadillac, and nobody finds that suspicious?” Curry asked.

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5. Unchecked and dangerous

Unchecked civil rights groups can spiral out of control, Curry said.

“It tells us something about our own political commitment, that we can look at this dynamic, want to castigate people who are dead, shot…and at the same time, celebrate these people– who are not even from the poor community– when they get millionaire deals,” he observed. “So BLM needs to be looked at with suspicion, needs to be analyzed, debated. I am not saying you have to go totally negative and castigate the whole organization. But we’re not even allowed to ask basic questions…”

He concluded, “I think BLM is very dangerous, not in the sense it has failed — I don’t think it has fully failed — but because it has not been questioned.”