I’m not one for metaphors. I strongly prefer straightforward speech without all of the bells and whistles that beat around the bush. However, there often comes a time when certain subjects seem too controversial, and people find themselves unable to hold productive conversation without a screaming match or someone grudgingly storming out of the room. In a culture so terrified of offending, this phenomenon has grown in frequency. Recently, it has reached a raging boiling point in the battle between #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter. Everyone is polarized to one side, seemingly unable to see the other points of view. I must admit that I am one of those people.
About a week and a half ago, the state-funded camp I was attending was on its last legs. There were only a couple of days left from the nearly month long experience, and to be truly honest, I was very tired. The long days of intense classes and heated debates left me very excited for the evening activity held every night that often consisted of watching a documentary or listening to a guest speaker. Translation: it was a chance for me to sit down and relax. That night was different. When I found out who was speaking, I became very excited. Leonard Pitts, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for the Miami Herald, was going to be addressing us. I’ll admit, before, I had no Idea who Pitts was. Frankly, I hadn’t even heard the name, but I read a couple of columns of his and became enamored by his writing style and choice of subject matter, namingly social issues such as race.
When he got up on stage, race became the center-piece as he opened up his speech recounting the recent events in Louisiana, Minnesota and Texas. After going through each of the tragic events, he made his way through his own experiences and feelings with racial inequality. He believes race to be an imaginary social construct invented to justify practices like slavery. I can’t help but agree with him, particularly when he spoke with such eloquent words and novel and clear wisdom.
There was one thing that said that stuck with me. This is where the metaphor comes in. When he brought up #AllLivesMatter, he didn’t simply demonize the “movement” that a solid majority of the students in the room supported, he offered a comprehensive, hypothetical analogy to explain why he couldn’t agree with it.
Imagine you injured your wrist, and you don’t know whether it is broken/sprained/etc. You go to the emergency room to get some answers and the doctor x-rays your wrist. For some reason though, he decides to x-ray every other bone in your body just for the heck of it. #AllBonesMatter, right? The doctor is ignoring that your wrist that is in pain. Your fibula doesn’t need a cast. Why walk on crutches if your legs are fine? You don’t.
#AllLivesMatter should be an undeniable truth, but as of now, it simply isn’t. Frankly, America’s wrist is broken. As the past couple of years have proven, the value of a black man’s life is disproportionally low. #BlackLivesMatter is calling for help and pushing for change because this isn’t okay. Instead of reinforcing the reform, #AllLivesMatter is degrading and, most of all, silencing. Yes, all lives SHOULD matter, but I cannot support the #AllLivesMatter movement until they actually do..
