I don’t like the word “all”. I know what it means but, I’m not a fan of it being used as a sign of inclusiveness. For example, I don’t like the phrase “All Lives Matter”. Yes, I understand that “All Lives Matter”. I understand that if you cut us, we will all bleed. I understand that we were all created by God and are all part of the ‘human race’ (spoiler alert: human isn’t a race and race is a social construct that was created by Carl Von Linnaeus). I am fully aware of how the word “all” works in relation to being inclusive. I’m all for unity and equality, but using the word “all” isn’t really inclusive. In my opinion, the word “all” is perhaps the most divisive word ever used.
“All Lives Matter”
“All Women are beautiful”
“All people face racism”
All of these are true except the last one; because whether you like it or not, racism is more than just about feeling superior to somebody else. It is deeply engrained in social, political, economic, and even gender-based power. Also, the word “all” is subjective, because not ALL people share the same experiences. Life is nuanced; nobody goes through the exact same thing the exact same way. While we may all be human, we are various individuals, shaped and modeled by various DNA combinations. We come from various nationalities, race, religions, social classes, and sexual orientations. We are the same, but yet so different. In a perfect world, we could shout “All Lives Matter” and it be true, but we don’t live in a perfect world. We live in a flawed system of greed and power and racism and patriarchy and social stratification for only the rich. We do not live in a utopian society. By using the word “all”, we wipe away the uniqueness that makes us who we are individually.
If we were honest with ourselves, we would be able to admit that the word “all” is not used until some other group is getting more attention than another or when a crisis hits our nation. Think about it; “All Lives Matter” didn’t become a thing until people started shouting “Black Lives Matter”. I expect someone to roll their eyes as they read this but, think beyond what the media has shown you. Think beyond what second hand, propagated, partisan, information you’ve gotten through Facebook and Twitter. I really want you to think about it. Have you heard anyone shouting “All Lives Matter” in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline? Did you hear anyone shouting “All Lives Matter” during perhaps the most divisive campaign in the history of the United States? Did you hear anyone shouting “All Lives Matter” when President Elect Trump wanted to ban all Muslims, or when he specifically said that Mexican illegal immigrants were responsible for rape and drugs in this country? Have you heard anyone shouting “All Lives Matter” as hate and race crimes have increased since the election of Donald Trump?
The answer is more than likely no. If the answer isn’t ‘no’, you can almost guarantee that “All Lives Matter” has been shouted in retaliation to someone pointing out the injustices of minorities. All Lives Matter is only convenient when one group is getting more praise than another.
So why do we use the word “all”?
The answer is easy; we use the word “all” because we have been forced to believe that individualism has is bad unless it fits the standard of those in power. Think about what it means to be American. To be American is to assimilate into the dominant culture, which happens to be White. To be American is to reject the idea that things like “racism” and “Sexism” and “Homophobia” and “Xenophobia” and “White Privilege” could possibly be real. To be American is to have an unconscious fear of Muslims and Mexicans and Blacks. To be American is to be religious…enough to the point where you can politely shame someone for being gay or for having an abortion. America is White picket fences and Barbecues on Weekends. To be American is to be patriotic-whether you’re wearing or waving an American flag or a confederate one…forgetting what those flags stood for before they were whitewashed by American history books.
To be American is to believe that Christopher Columbus “sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred ninety-two”. To be American is to be brainwashed with images of smiling pilgrims and Indians and a White Jesus. To be American is Football, Baseball, and the Olympics. To be American is to be taught that the Civil War was fought for the freedom of enslaved people…while overlooking the fact that America itself had enslaved these same people. To be American is to believe that Martin Luther King was beloved by all; it’s why we were finally kind enough to give him a holiday…in 1986, nearly 20 years after his death. To be American is to believe that President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation to free the slaves. To be American is to love Woodstock, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra.
To be American is to basically forget about its ugly history. To be American is to tell people of color that “You have a Black President, stop talking about slavery”. To be American is to pretend that the Jim Crow era was “a long, long, time ago”. To be American is to forget the Trail of Tears, Japanese Internment Camps, but to NEVER FORGET the sinking of the Titanic, the Holocaust, and 9/11. To be American is to believe “Make America Great Again” will actually include people of color, queers, and people of different faiths. To be American is to be able to aimlessly walk around and deny things like climate change. To be American is to be able to rewrite history to fit your needs.
That isn’t American, that’s White privilege…
We make all truly inclusive by acknowledging racism, homophobia, sexism, and xenophobia. We make all inclusive by acknowledging that White Supremacy and Institutional racism are real. We make all inclusive by realizing that individuality is a good thing.
We make all inclusive by ridding the system of racial bias.
We make all inclusive by making sure that all history, both good and bad regardless of race, is presented equally and fairly without being White washed in order to appease by the majority.
All can’t really inclusive until we acknowledge and change the double standards within society...
