In a recent Facebook post, I reposted a picture saying to "Wear all black on February 29th to celebrate the last day of Black History Month and Black Unity." One disgruntled person said, "Oh God" basically opposing the idea. Then, came forth a series of comments and replies that lead to this article.
The intention of Black History Month and #BLACKLIVESMATTER is to bring together people during the month, rather than separate. Given that black people were persecuted for centuries, and still are to this day, it is an attempt at forgiveness and understanding. It is an attempt at acknowledging that what happened, and is still going on, is nowhere near fair but that there are people who care and want change. This isn't just uniting the black people, all people are acknowledging this problem and offering solace by doing something like wearing a certain color. For example, why do people wear pink shirts for only breast cancer? What about all the other cancers and diseases? No one is stopping anyone from forming any sort of groups aimed towards support and love. Yes, every one of these issues is important, but you have to give credit to each during it's specific time period. It's like you're saying: "Yeah, your problems may be important, but so are mine. Get over it." Where is the love? Where is the empathy?
Furthermore, Black History Month just ended last week, and through various social media platforms, promotions of #BlackExcellence and of African-American history were shared. Many shared their thoughts on what black history means to them and others complained while asking insensible questions like, “Why do we have a Black History Month?” or “Why does such a month exist?” All of which mainly came from the mouths of, dare I say, white people.
I understand, you don’t get it. You don’t get what it’s like to be black living in white America -- simply because you’re not black. I, being African-American, do get it and wish people were more empathetic to causes like #BLACKLIVESMATTER.
I find it crazy that when promotion of black unity entitles people to say all lives matter when, indeed -- yes, all lives do matter but the point is not all lives when people of color have been discriminated against for centuries, here. By chorusing and saying all lives matter you’re putting a shallow cover over something that is much deeper than a few action words and hashtags. People of color (my people) are still being brutally attacked, shot and targeted for not being “all” but for being “black”, “colored”, and “non-white.”
The point of the #Blacklivesmatter movement isn’t to cause separation between blacks and whites, or other ethnicities, but to bring forth awareness and justice to those who’ve dealt with race driven crimes or racial injustice -- especially since slavery and the slave trade was such a dominant force in making America powerful and great. The point of a black history month is to bolster the lives of those that were told they were no better than animals and considered less than human, and overcame this oppression and ignorant view. The point is to also bring further light to the real scary history of America that’s not taught in high schools, but only through extensive research of someone’s own gumption and intent.
Usually, when people say anything referring to black power or unity, it's meet with "if a white person did that it would be a problem because of such and such..." The problem with saying something like that is the fact no one said you couldn't. You can do whatever you want to show your unity, if you believe in the cause. What's wrong with building unity if it's done for good reasons, and to bring positive change? The problem is that you shouldn't take away from a cause and sweep it under the rug just because it pays particular attention to a group of people who have faced different hardships and troubles that don't include all people.
So, disgruntled #ALLLIVESMATTER supporter, what do you really support? Besides supporting the universal blind eye most of you share to what's really going on.
