A friend of mine noted on Facebook the other day that it shouldn’t be difficult to understand that black lives matter — the idea behind respect for the black community and acknowledgement that maybe there’s room for police reform — and Black Lives Matter — the group purporting to care about those things but really pumping out Marxism — are two different things. And that support for one doesn’t necessarily mean support for the other.

It shouldn’t be difficult, and I think perhaps that understanding is growing. But there are very likely a large number of people who don’t know there’s a difference. Which is where I think the new documentary “Uncle Tom” (trailer below) from radio great and black conservative Larry Elder might come in handy.

It tells the story of black conservatism — not just black conservatives, but conservatism in the black community; how it developed and came to look the way it looks now. And Elder and many of his guests draw a hard distinction between support and love for the black American community and the forces that would co-opt it into policies that don’t exactly have that community’s best interests at heart.

Elder, a prominent black conservative who co-wrote and helped produce the film, showcases his own story and the stories of other prominent black conservatives, as well as those who live quieter lives but began to study policy ideas with the intent of becoming better voters. And it’s a compelling watch.

A key theme that courses through almost all their stories is the notion that liberal Democrats had done great work in convincing the black community for years that their party was the party that represented their interests. But even a mild scratch on the surface of that myth reveals a much more complicated truth: that not only is the party of entitlements and large government not helping the black community in modern times, it’s historically never been the party seeking the success of black Americans. It’s a truth all Americans should hear. And most astonishing: rather than bitterness, the people in “Uncle Tom” represent some of the most hopeful voices I’ve heard in these days of almost constant bickering and outright viciousness in the political sphere.

I cover it on the show today, as well as what’s happening in Portland and the re-emergence of baseball in the time of pandemic.

Give me a few minutes of your time if you will.

The show lives below on Spotify and you can also find me at iHeart radio, Apple Podcasts, FCB Radio’s Spreaker, and Deezer.