There's an article on CNN news titled Why All Lives Matter Misses the Point which you can find here and it's true, it COMPLETELY misses the point. Of course, if you do visit that CNN article and scroll down the comments section, you will surely see plenty of ignorant racists who completely missed the point, what a shocker. While it is true that all lives matter, it's almost like stating the obvious...though not completely. See, the problem is, it may seem like an obvious and inherently true statement to say, " all lives matter" but in reality, we don't really act like that. Every time someone (usually white) uses the whole "all lives matter" what they're really saying is, "my white life matters more than your black life does." Why do I say this? Because the #AllLivesMatter almost always pops up the minute someone uses the #BlackLivesMatter. The whole point of the Black Lives Matter movement is to keep reminding people that well...Black Lives Matter! Black people and other people of color are continually degraded, discriminated against, made to feel less than...and let's not forget MURDERED. Then, when we try to speak up about our pain and the injustices thrown at us day to day, we're continually shut down, and told to get over it, and are left feeling, hopeless, ignored, and forgotten. To sum it up, we're left feeling like our lives don't matter, at least not as much as a white person's life. So, to remind black people and the rest of the world that we do in fact matter, three women created the Black Lives Matter Movement.
Of course, this led to some very outraged and offended white people, who love to spout the All Lives Matter, and yes, thank - you, we know. But there's no reason to state it. By chanting the #AllLivesMatter, you are choosing to ignore the issues that systematically harm and oppress black people, issues that white people don't have to face. We know white lives matter, because the system is designed to oppress black people and others of color and continually praise and privilege white people, even when they're in the wrong. For example, we keep seeing over and over again white cops killing unarmed black men and women...and the usual response we get is that the victim did something to deserve it. But, if it were black cops killing unarmed white men and women, the whole nation would be going absolutely crazy and the cops would be fired, no questions asked. White people are not pressured to conform to black standards of beauty, do not watch television in which there race is rarely praised or even shown, and when white people vandalize/loot AND injure others over a sports game, they are not called criminals, thugs or animals. Yet when black people protest and vandalize over being systematically murdered, without hurting anyone, with the killers facing no accountability whatsoever, we are demonized.
So, yes, we know, your white life matters, society and the systems in place to oppress us, and worship you, already tell us that. The #BlackLivesMatter is a reminder if nothing else, that we matter too.
Matt Mcgorry, who plays in two of my favorite shows--How to Get Away with Murder and Orange is the New Black--has a very accurate and unique analogy to explain the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
"Or as some #BlackLivesMatter activists say, it's like going to an AIDS walk and shouting "All Diseases Matter!" Some people think they are being more inclusive by saying #AllLivesMatter in response to #BlackLivesMatter but in reality, they're (un)consciously undermining the purpose of the movement. Because this PARTICULAR movement is about SPECIFIC issues, as any decently effective movement is. You can't just have a protest for "Make Everything In The World Better!" How can you have an effective protest that's about gender equality, animal rights, racial equality, and saving the environment? Pro-tip: you can't. Because that's not how getting shit done works. And I've never seen #AllLivesMatter promoted by someone who ACTUALLY fights for racial equality. So someone getting up in arms because of #BlackLivesMatter while they sit on the sidelines and do nothing for black lives or anyone's other than their own is not actually promoting that "All Lives Matter (equally)" as much as they're trying to take down the idea that#BlackLivesMatter and denying its necessity and value. Whether it's conscious or unconscious, you're contributing to societies racial issues if you're responding with #AllLivesMatter.
#BlackLivesMatter doesn't mean other lives don't. Like people who say "Save The Rainforests" aren't saying "Fuck All Other Types of Forests." And if your response to "Save The Rainforests" is "No! Save ALL forests!!!" then you sure as shit better actually be doing something to ACTUALLY save ALL forests. If not...well you get the point. And if you don't get the point, then you probably didn't get any of this. So show me the person who spends their life fighting for all lives ACTUALLY mattering AND who says#AllLivesMatter and I'll show you a world where people are treated like they actually do matter equally (neither of those actually exist). Now I know very little about the #BlackLivesMatter but I'm learning and these r things that I think people who actually care about equality can agree on. #BlackLivesMatter is necessary because we don't live in a society that systematically treats white people terribly bc they're white. And that's why we need #BlackLivesMatter."
(you can read the rest of the article here)
