They are just driving “people That Really Matter” further away from them; nothing kills an area faster than this nonsense. Here in NJ (with a black population roughly equal to the national average) we generally don’t have these in areas where employed people are inconvenienced. A friend that works in Newark’s tiny downtown says even a rumor of such an event prompts managers to encourage people to work from home for that day; technology has made the unassimilated minority protester obsolete.
Only the panhandlers get the shaft in that arrangement...
If you are a blockmason. welder, mechanic, or carpenter it is kinda hard to lay blocks,work on a vehicle,weld. or build houses from 15 miles away.