Over the past few months, unfortunate events have taken place and a movement by the name of "Black Lives Matter" has moved its way to the forefront of social media and every day discussion. Being a black male, it's hard for me to say this among my peers, but I don't support the "Black Lives Matter" movement.

When the world was created, no matter what you believe in certain things were meant to be certain. For example, the sun goes up in the morning and sets in the afternoon and this idea of togetherness more commonly known as love. With love comes hate, and hate takes on many different forms which cause people to mistreat each other.

The "Black Lives Matter" movement seemed harmless in the very beginning, but the message it was promoting wavered along its progression to the masses. The idea was to speak up for those effected by actions of police brutality and unfair treatment toward African American individuals. In some incidents innocent people were killed in the process of a police stopping or some form of police brutality. The name of the movement alone brings forth controversy where it sounds like the lives of African American individuals are more important of those of other races.

Race is a man made idea that has brought forth so much controversy over the years. History has shown that people dislike others based off their race and will treat those people they find inferior as if they were animals rather than humans. "Black Lives Matter" signals out one race and ignores the injustices that happen to other races or even minorities that battle the same exact things.

Given the system we live in, a black male is more likely to be pulled over and proceeded with caution in comparison to someone with white skin. Slavery existed and racism is still alive until this very day, but it only exists because we as individuals allow it to exist but at the same time are things of the past we allow to live on.

Personal accountability in ones actions is what stops anything negative from ever occurring. We overlook the negative things an individual may do leading to a tragic event but rather blame those in power doing their job. People will always remember the negative things people do rather than all of the positives brought forth by that individual. The lives of innocent people lost because of an individual's hate or mistake I do not disregard in the slightest but understand as humans we all make mistakes in a system we can not undo until people make an effort to do so.

In today's age we see things in color rather than just accepting who is in front of us. Race is what separates people but we fail to realize we are all just people. No matter the skin color we hold, our background, religious or sexual orientation we are all just people. The actions I take on should not be represented by my skin color but be addressed as the actions of this individual not "a black male."

I do not support the "Black Lives Matter" movement simply because I believe our perception of race shouldn't be a thing nor does one's race life matter more than the others. At the end of the day we are all human and every human life is beautiful and an equal.

"The world we live in is a beautiful place and is so simple. The sun goes up in the morning and sets in the afternoon, but what we do in between those times is what complicates and makes it an ugly place."
Justin Leaphart