All Lives Matter*

*Some restrictions may apply. Offer not valid for Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Muslims, queers, foreigners, women, non-Christians, non-republicans, and the poor.

There is too much anger surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement. Just a five minute scroll on Facebook reminds me why I claim liberal. Flipping through tweets shows a huge trend of the infamous 'All Lives Matter' hashtag. I've never seen so much Confederate flag attire stamped with 'All Lives Matter' in a matter of seconds searching on Instagram. What is unsettling is, to no surprise, a majority of 'All Lives Matter' posts and the anger of 'Black Lives Matter,' is coming from the white man. If whites come across an article of black against white crime, they will angrily protest "Why is there no coverage on this?" or "This is what the media doesn't tell you."

Well John, the media also fails to accurately (if at all) encapsulate what people of color endure day in and day out, something I cannot even begin to describe or understand because of my own white privilege. Because of my skin color, I have an inconceivable amount of luxuries I am unaware of because my ancestors were not beaten, enslaved, and forced to conform to the white man's way of living.

Our society is built from the ground up from dominance of those who are weaker. 'Black Lives Matter' is a movement, shockingly enough, for us white people. It is not just a movement to "complain" about the barriers of the colored, John. It is a neon sign for the ones still in charge after all this time, the whites, to finally listen to what needs to be said by the blacks. It is not an anti-white group structured to inflict pain and terror. It is a protest to educate us whites, again I emphasize, on what STILL needs to be established, implemented, organized, and constructed for black lives. It is a matter of ensuring their basic human rights.

"Well, it WAS my ancestors who were the racists, beating and enslaving the blacks' ancestors. Why am I at fault?" Funny you ask, John. I'm here to tell you even though we did not commit the crimes ourselves, we still have the blood on our hands. We are still inextricably bound to our ancestors, to those who committed the crimes. We are still benefiting to this day from our ancestors committing those crimes, and we still fail to see it. The Black Lives Matter movement aims to educate us to recognize even a fraction of our white privilege and bring awareness to the prevalent issues they all face, in hopes for economic, political, and social reform.

Unfortunately,the Black Lives Matter movement will be unsuccessful in achieving its true purpose if whites still continue to undermine the awareness by creating their own movement of 'All Lives Matter' and passing on detrimental perspectives of 'Black Lives Matter.' Moreover, 'All Lives Matter' is a political movement based on the fundamental misunderstanding of another. 'Black Lives Matter' is NOT saying white lives do not matter. It is a movement honing in on what our primary focus should be. All lives won't matter until black lives do. It is like walking into a doctor's office saying your stomach hurts but the doctor persistently asks you, "But what about your head; does it hurt? How could you forget your legs? Your arms? Hands? Feet?" You want the doctor to focus on what is hurting you, your stomach. Sure, your legs are sore from running that 5k and your feet could use a good massage, but you would rather the doctor direct his attention on what matters right then.

So, direct your focus on what matters. Give it all your attention. How do we aim to live with it? How do we decide to initiate change? How do we reconstruct from the ground up? Black Lives Matter, that's how.