So I was recently trolling Facebook and stumbled upon this article: The Real Reason White People Say All Lives Matter.
My first thoughts were optimistic and open, then I read it. I do agree with some of the comments made like "no one was saying “All Lives Matter” before people started saying 'Black Lives Matter'. So 'All Lives Matter' is a response to 'Black Lives Matter'." The article goes on to say this must mean that white people have a problem with the "Black Lives Matter" statement. My problem with the statement is the fact that no one is saying "Indian Lives Matter" or "Hispanic Lives Matter." There are plenty of other races that matter.
The author seems to think that white people's problem with the statement is that it means white people don't matter. I think that people try to claim superiority enough that we don't need a phrase that highlights the lives of one group of people and ignores the rest.
Comparing the phrase "Blue Lives Matter" to the issue between all lives and black lives is a valid point. If people don't have a problem with "Blue Lives Matter" but have issues with "Black Lives Matter" then it must mean the offending word is Black. I am not offended by saying "Black Lives Matter," but I do believe all lives matter, including police officers. I think that the phrase defending the lives of law enforcement officers is just another response to "Black Lives Matter."
The author describes white people being raised to be "colorblind" and not see black or white. He says, "it is really a white privilege to be able to ignore race." I think he is right, unfortunately. I have friends that experience racial problems inside and outside of their race. This should not be the case, but it is. However, I don't think it is just white people's problem that perpetuates this behavior. EVERYONE needs to stop holding prejudices against someone with a different skin color. Maybe I am naive to think that one white girl saying this will change anything, but I have to hope that if enough people started fighting back and saying all lives are equal and matter that something will eventually change. Even if things aren't equal right now we have to fight to make them equal - that's just the world we live in.
The author makes the comment that black people "live in a culture which constantly reminds them of their Black-ness." But this isn't done by just white people every race including Black people are creating this culture so it is unfair to put it all on one group. Everyone needs to stop making assumptions and generalizations.
The author does make excellent points in describing the different treatments of blacks versus whites in our society. However, the media is out of control with how they report deaths. I don't just want to hear about white officers killing black individuals because I am sure there is plenty of other deaths. The race shouldn't be important, but it is. Maybe I want to hear about the death of an individual without the color of his skin. Maybe if the media decided to make race such a big deal people would begin to see it that way. He says that the phrase makes white people uncomfortable because it reminds us that race exists. Sure, I guess that is true, but maybe if we forgot race existed it wouldn't create so many problems.
Despite some of my disagreement I think the author is in the right place that recognizing that racism exists in our world. I know I have my own personal biases, no matter how hard I try not to. He says we are in the middle of a second civil rights movement, and he is right. So how do we move forward into a better world where every life - black, hispanic, white, indian, asian, gay, lesbian, transgender (and all the other ones I am missing) - matter. Racism isn't just white people - it is all people. He gives some suggestions on how to combat racism, but what are you going to do?
