A movement has been started among many Black Americans (and Whites who believe in equality and the sanctity of life). It is called "Black Lives Matter" -- and it is a reasonable response to the numerous shootings of unarmed Blacks by the police in this country. One would have to deny (or ignore) the truth to not believe that it is far more dangerous in this country to be a Black person, as far as dealing with the police, than it is to be a White person.But there has been a response to the "Black Lives Matter" movement that I'll have to admit bothers me. It is a meme (seen all over social media these days) that says "all Lives Matter". This "All Lives Matter" meme purports to be a loving and humanistic one. I don't think that's true. And I think those that support it are either ignorant or involved in a right-wing (and racist) effort to counter (and defeat) the movement to insure equal rights and treatment of Blacks in this country.
The "Black Lives Matter" movement has never said that only Black lives matter. They are just saying that Black lives should matter as much as White lives when it comes to the police (or any other institution in this country). And anyone who thinks they ever said or meant that is either stupid or ignorant. They just want all lives to matter equally.
The truth, in my opinion, is that the "All Lives Matter" movement is an invention of the racist right-wing in this country -- people who don't want change, or equality. They like the status quo, and they don't want to see any change. They are the same people who don't want Blacks to vote -- or to have an equal chance for an education or a job. They know that they can't come right out and say equality is bad, so they put their hopes for maintaining White privilege on that innocent sounding meme. They don't truly believe all lives matter. They are just trying to demonize the "Black Lives Matter" movement.
We still have a serious problem with racism in this country, and that racism becomes very dangerous when it is evidenced in organizations like the police -- because it than results in the unnecessary loss of Black lives. White parents don't worry that their children will be killed by the police when they leave home, but that worry is real (and justified) among Black parents. That must change -- and it won't change by ignoring the problem, or covering it up with happy sounding memes.
I used a picture of a woman holding up this sing in my last Odds and Ends post. I think it is great.
ReplyDeleteThe #AllLivesMatter nonsense is just more of the "color blind" campaign -- the Stephen Colbert "I don't see color" joke. It is a way to ignore racism. Just recently, I wrote an article about David Frum's complaints about Serena Williams, and I called it what it was: racism. A commenter claimed I was the racist because I brought race into it because Frum never mentioned her race. This is the same thing: talking about race is racism; we can't know if Frum is being racist unless he mentions her race. It's madness.