Before you get angry and try to start an argument, please actually read why I stand by saying all lives matter. This has become an argument not one single side can win. It baffles me that it's 2016 and inequality and discrimination among a variety of different groups of people is still such a huge problem America can't seem to solve.
My news feeds were filled with #BlackLivesMatters and #BlueLivesMatter, and if you wrote #BlueLivesMatters you were bashed by someone who said #BlackLivesMatter and vice versa. No one is trying to silence black lives or blue lives, saying all lives, at least to me, is saying we need equality, we need to stop discriminating any group of people due to who they are and what they are. It is not an equal system and we need to create an equal system. So why stop at black lives or blue lives and push the envelope for everyone who experiences discrimination?
I’ve gotten in a few Facebook arguments about how I expressed how each life should matter equally. At first I didn’t understand why everyone was jumping down my throat when I said it. I wasn’t against either side of black lives or blue lives. I cared that people were dying because of hate, I cared that people were and continue to be mistreated due to their nationality, race, gender or sexual orientation. I realized they don’t understand what I mean when I say it #AllLivesMatter. So let me explain.
I believe in equality, equality among minorities, among women and equality for everyone. In the United States, equality doesn’t exist for everyone. When I say #AllLivesMatter, I am saying your life and my life should matter equally. I am not trying to silence black lives or blue lives, I want to keep talking about black lives and blue lives, but I want to push it a bit further. We need to extend the talk to any group discriminated for their nationality, gender, sexual orientation or race. Saying #AllLivesMatter to me, is that we need to focus on not just blue lives or black lives, but all lives who face discrimination and inequality as a whole.
When I say all lives matter, I am not talking about white male privilege. The point I am trying to make is that discriminating someone because the color of their skin is not the only problem America faces. People are discriminated on gender, nationality and sexual orientation. Discriminating against all minorities needs to be talked about. Yes racism exist, yes it needs to be changed, but America needs to change a lot more than just racism.
The United States has a few problems, but not just black lives or blue lives, but all of the lives that have been discriminated for who they are. To me, saying all lives matters, is saying that the problem goes beyond black and blue lives and reaches across the whole spectrum of race, nationality, sexual orientation and gender. And to focus on one select group shouldn’t be the answer, focusing on the whole problem, including every group of people, no matter who you are. We all deserve equal rights, not one person should be discriminated for who they are as a person. America we have a much bigger problem than black lives and blue lives.
We cannot deny there is not a problem. But why stop at black and blue lives, when we could push our society into accepting and equalizing not just one or two groups, but every group that faces discrimination. The hatred needs to end; there shouldn’t be a divide in our nation because there are some bad seeds in all groups of people.
Unfortunately, after an innocent occurs people will only care or at least show that they care for a few days. A few days after it happens, these concerns are soon forgotten, until another one occurs. As a nation, this is what we should be focusing on. As a nation, we need to push and stride for equality among all people, no matter who you are. There are good people in the world and there are bad people in the world. Your life matters, no matter what you stand for, what your nationality, race, gender or sexual orientation is.
