"Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. I am not unmindful of the fact that violence often brings about momentary results. Nations have frequently won their independence in battle. But in spite of temporary victories, violence, never brings permanent peace." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world." - Paul Farmer

Let's break down what the terms "All Lives Matter", "Black Lives Matter", and "Blue Lives Matter" actually mean.

All Lives Matter is a slogan created to claim that Black Lives Matters overlooks the importance of other kinds of people, including police officers, who also die due to violence.

Blue Lives Matter is a pro-police movement in the United States. It was started after the killings of New York Police Department officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu in Brooklyn, New York, on December 20, 2014, after they were ambushed in their patrol car. Blue Lives Matter was formed in reaction to the movement.

Black Lives Matter is an activist movement originating in the African American community, that campaigns against violence and racism towards black people. The movement began after the trial of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of teen, Trayvon Martin.

In my eyes, #AllLivesMatter, whether it be black lives, blue lives, red lives, white lives, whatever. A person is a person. Things happen and mistakes are made. But the hashtag "All Lives Matter" is now considered to be racist? Why is that?

An article by John Halstead, "The Real Reason White People Say "All Lives Matter" says this:
"Black people live in a culture which constantly reminds them of their Black-ness, which tells them in a million large and small ways that they are not as important as white people, that their lives actually do not matter as much as white lives. Which is why saying “Black Lives Matter” is so important."

The article continues to say what "raging racists" all white people are because when we think "All Lives Matter", we are actually thinking "All White Lives Matter". How this one man on the internet knows what I'm thinking and every other person on the planet is thinking, is beyond me. When I think #AllLivesMatter, I think there are cases in the police force where racism is the issue and cause of the wrongful death, but every time an African-American is shot? NO.

Doesn't singling out one race, such as the Black Lives Matters Activist Groups, build barriers between races?

That is what we are fighting against, right? If you take a look in a history book, you will see that there was a Civil Rights Movement from 1919-1960's that was created to end segregation. Despite Kennedy’s assassination in November of 1963, his proposal formed into the Civil Rights Act of 1964, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson just a few hours after House approval on July 2, 1964.

"The act outlawed segregation in businesses such as theaters, restaurants, and hotels. It banned discriminatory practices in employment and ended segregation in public places such as swimming pools, libraries, and public schools."

So the fact that now, 52 years later, the race card is still played so harshly, is completely ridiculous. White people are considered to be privileged, but still have to tip-toe around black people so they don't get their panties in a wad? Because we are "so privileged"? What happened to freedom of speech? Saying #AllLivesMatter should not label someone a racist bigot.

We live in a world where everything is so controversial that saying ALL LIVES MATTER is offensive, because we aren't acknowledging the facts that "Blacks are in immediate danger now and need immediate attention."
And all of this has come from the recent police shootings. The Black Lives Matter Movement has convinced people that there is an epidemic of racist white police officers killing young, innocent, black men. If one was to only take information from this group and no one else, they would think that Police Officers pose the biggest threat to young black men. But that statement, just like many associated with the fatal police shootings, is wrong.

"A March 2015 Justice Department report on the Philadelphia Police Department found that black and Hispanic officers were much more likely than white officers to shoot blacks based on “threat misperception”—that is, the mistaken belief that a civilian is armed." - The Wall Street Journal

(Once again - Tip-Toeing)

The Wall Street Journal sates:

-Fatal police shootings make up a much larger proportion of white and Hispanic homicide deaths than black homicide deaths.
-In 2015 officers killed 662 whites and Hispanics, and 258 blacks. (The overwhelming majority of all those police-shooting victims were attacking the officer, often with a gun.)
-Those 662 white and Hispanic victims of police shootings would make up 12% of all white and Hispanic homicide deaths. (That is three times the proportion of black deaths that result from police shootings.)
-Over the past decade, according to FBI data, 40% of cop killers have been black.
-Officers are killed by blacks at a rate 2.5 times higher than the rate at which blacks are killed by police.

The Black Lives Matter Movement has taken the focus of actual violent crimes and pushed it towards the police officers who protect us in our everyday lives.

The world knows the names of Alton Sterling, a 37 year-old black man, who was shot at close range 3 times in the chest while being held on the ground by two white Baton Rouge Police Officers, leading to the "Baton Rouge Riots" (An Anti-Brutality protest met with brutality).

It also knows the name of Philano Castile, a 28 year-old black, who was pulled over because an officer suspected him of being involved in an armed robbery that occurred several days earlier, based off of security footage from the scene. Once stopped, Castile reached for his gun and the officer opened fire, firing 4 shots into his left arm and side.

But we do not know the name of Tyshawn Lee, a 9 year-old black male child, lured into a dark alley with the promise of goodies from the store before having a bullet in his head by black gang members in Chicago last fall.

This was a black life that mattered, like many. This boy deserved so much more, but instead we are defending the criminals and stories like Tyshawn Lee's are barely heard about. We are killing police officers, the ones who aim to protect us, because they are doing their jobs and protecting themselves.

How about All Lives Matter. not Black Lives, not White Lives. Every Life.