Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley is the latest public figure to come under fire for using the phrase “All Lives Matter.” O’Malley was recently speaking at a Netroots Nation conference when he was interrupted by protesters shouting “Black Lives Matter,” in an effort to start a conversation about police brutality and criminal justice. O’Malley responded to the protesters by saying: "Black lives matter. White lives matter. All lives matter."

O’Malley’s comment was received with booing from the crowd of mostly black protesters. He later apologized during an interview with the media outlet, This Week In Blackness. "I did not mean to be insensitive in any way or communicate that I did not understand the tremendous passion, commitment and feeling and depth of feeling that all of us should be attaching to this issue," O’Malley said.

Despite the backlash O’Malley received from protesters, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush came to his defense saying that no apology is necessary for saying all lives matter. "We're so uptight and politically correct now that you apologize for saying lives matter," Bush told reporters. "Life is precious. It's a gift from God. I frankly think that it's one of the most important values that we have. I know in the political context, it's a slogan, I guess."

While I completely agree with Bush’s statement that all lives precious, I feel that both he and O’Malley are completely missing the point of the slogan, Black Lives Matter. When you think about how could they ever truly understand the Black Lives Matter movement. They’re men, they’re well off, and they’re white. They’ve never had to be reminded that their lives are significant. That they matter.

The Black Lives Matter movement was co-founded by black activists: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the Florida shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin. The movement has also addressed the well known shooting deaths of other African-Americans such as Michael Brown, John Crawford III, and the death of Eric Gardner.

Founder Alicia Garza explained the movement by saying: “Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks' contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.”

As an African-American living in the United States, these deaths were hard to hear. The fact that a young black teen could be murdered and blamed for his own death. How a black man could be put in an chokehold banned by the NYPD, that his death could be filmed, and that no one was charged for his death. It makes you start to question just how much African-American lives are valued in America. It makes you question just how far we have truly progressed in terms of equality.

I think many people miss the point of the Black Lives Matter movement. Its not to say that all lives don’t matter. It’s not to exclude others races from an exclusive club that only blacks can join. Its not to attack other races. Its a movement for a group of people that for a long time, were told their lives didn’t matter, through both actions and words. For a group of people that were excluded from society simply because of the color of their skin. For a group of people that to this day still live with the aftermath of a period of racism, discrimination, and violence. This is not opinion, this is fact. So if all lives matter, why do so many feel as though their lives don’t?