I remember when the Black Lives Matter movement started back in 2012. I was still in high school then, and it was right after Trayvon Martin's murderer, George Zimmerman, was acquitted for his crime. If ya'll don't recall, Trayvon Martin was the 17 year-old kid from Florida who made the fatal mistake of walking home at night, while wearing a hoodie, while being black. After the Zimmerman trial the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag started circulating around social media, but it didn't pick up popularity (and controversy) until two years later when Michael Brown was shot and killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri.
The murder of Michael Brown is also the same time that the All Lives Matter movement began.
And to each their own. This is America, after all, home of the free, land of the brave. We're all allowed to have opinions. We're a democracy. I'm all about our country being a melting pot of different opinions and ideas. What I have a problem with is that those people shouting All Lives Matter don't actually mean it. Because the bulk of people nicely exclaiming "All lives matter!" actually mean "All lives matter...asterisk" because *some exclusions apply. For example:
ALL LIVES MATTER*
*Except for non-whites
*Except for the handicapped, the disabled, and the physically and mentally ill
We keep second guessing the disabled and if they really deserve their welfare or not. We keep wanting to vote officials into office who support getting rid of Obamacare, despite knowing that Obamacare has made health care affordable for millions of people for the first time ever. We keep ignoring how hard and expensive it is for people with mental illnesses and addictions to get the care they deserve and need.
*Except for the transgendered, bigendered, androgynous, and gender-fluid
States keep passing laws to keep those who don't identify as cisgendered criminalized and alienated. We keep allowing them to take their own lives because we're not dealing with the problem.
*Except for the gay, bisexual, asexual, and pansexual
States are still trying to take away the federal right for all genders to marry. Hate crimes against gays are still very much a real and serious thing.
*Except for animals
Factory farms keep animals in horrific conditions that are beyond inhumane, yet there is no legislation saying they can't. About 7.6 million dogs and cats are surrendered to shelters each year; 31 percent of them end up being euthanized.
*Except for refugees, looking for asylum from war, rape, famine, and death
A little over half of Americans polled said they didn't want refugees to enter our country because they're "dangerous" despite most refugees being children and families desperately in need of help. 11 percent said they would be OK with refugees, but only if they were Christians, because all lives matter...
*Except for people who are Muslim, Jewish, or non-Christian
Hate crimes against Muslims spike after any terroristic attack. Donald Trump's Islamphobic rhetoric has also spiked crimes of hate against Muslims. And despite that, Jews still experience the most amount of hate in the country with a staggering 57 percent of all hate crimes being antisemetic.
*Except for the poor and the homeless
We are constantly trying to cut back on social welfare policies or enact new ways to make it harder to get welfare. We are constantly ignoring the homeless problem in our country and instead enacting new legislation to make it criminal and deadly to be on the streets.
*Except for women
One out of every six women will have been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. About two out of every three rapes will go unreported due to the survivor's fear and/or lack of trust in our criminal justice system. That means for every 1,000 rapes, 994 rapists will walk free.
Now, what's my point here? Because as I'm sure I'll be told, a lot of All Lives Matter supporters do believe in better health care and helping refugees etc. etc. and all that good stuff.
My point is basically that All Lives Matter people aren't consistent and they aren't consistent for a reason. You never see the All Lives Matters hashtag trending in relation to any of the above problems. Ever. In fact, I've personally witnessed some All Lives Matter supporters voice opinions on how they don't think trans people should get to use all bathrooms and how Muslims are destroying our country. But you can see it on a larger scale too. For example, I didn't see them throwing around their hashtag when that endangered gorilla was unjustly shot and killed at the Cincinnati Zoo. I didn't see them throwing around "All Lives Matter" when there was a giant, huge, national debate on if we should or shouldn't let refugees into our country. I didn't see them throwing around "All Lives Matter" when Donald Trump made remark after racist remark about Muslims and Mexicans and implied that America shouldn't help nor care for them at all. Nope, the All Lives Matter movement has been virtually absent in response to other controversial "life or death" scenarios; but every time the Black Lives Matter movement makes a reappearance and protests start in an effort to bring attention to the horrors being faced by the black community in America, there's always a handful of people in the background chanting, "ALL LIVES MATTER!" like they're doing God's work. Like they actually care about all the lives.
So look, I don't have a problem with the "concept" behind the All Lives Matter movement. I truly do believe that all lives of all kinds do actually matter. Probably because I'm not an awful human being. But I also know and understand that right now some lives matter more because they're getting a lot more shit thrown at them i.e. black lives. Using #AllLivesMatter as a clapback to #BlackLivesMatter is messed up. You're basically stomping on an entire race that is currently protesting for change because they're scared to exist with their skin in our country. The All Lives Matter movement has, time and time again, been used solely to shut down the voices of the oppressed and make their problems and concerns obsolete.
The worst part of it all is that it is a very clever way of disguising racism behind good intentions. Because of course all lives matter, what kind of psychopath would dispute that?
So yeah, take your "All Lives Matter" hypocrisy nonsense elsewhere. Right now, Black Lives Matter, and trying to redirect that attention is an a**hole move.
