The recent events circling the news are heartbreaking to hear. People are dying and it is absolutely heartbreaking. Children. Husbands. Mothers. Wives. Sisters. Brothers. They are dying. And at the center of this dilemma is the debate on whether #BlackLivesMatter should be what we all are crying, or should we opt for the broader #AllLivesMatter. I understand why this question would come about: “Shouldn’t all lives matter?” Well, to answer your question, yes. Absolutely all lives matter, but before I continue, let me give you an analogy.
There are numerous types of cancer afflicting the world today. Prostate, breast, colon – the list is endless. Cancer is an important battle the doctors and scientist around the world are trying to contain, and, hopefully cure. But if, say, there is a sudden rise in breast cancer, doctors, scientists and the media would focus heavily on the getting the word out about this cancer and focus a bunch of resources on hopefully finding a way to slow it down and cure it, right? That, however, does not mean that every other cancer is less important. The same thing is applicable in this situation. When Hispanics were being targeted by police, being racially profiled to determine if they were really citizens of the United States, we, as a society, recognized the disconnect and rallied around ending this racially charged practice, without lessening the importance of other racial and social injustices in our nation. We did not belittle the Hispanic community, by crying that other races are also being profiled.
What many people do not understand is that when someone uses the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, what they are really saying is that all lives matter. It is a call to arms to rally around the group that is currently being targeted. When some uses #BlackLivesMatter, they are calling attention to another moment of injustice experienced by an African American individual. When African Americans, in the 1960s, stood up for the rights that my fellow African Americans and I now have, there weren’t only people of color present. It wasn’t just people of color voicing their outrage. It wasn’t just people of color marching, taking the tear gas and standing together against the unjustness of society and Jim Crow laws. White people around our nation stood brave and tall alongside their black neighbors, friends, brothers and sisters to fight the fight laid out before them, and they didn’t stop until the fight was won.
The main reason #BlackLivesMatter will not change to #AllLivesMatter is because when you replace "Black" with "All," it gives this kind of safe space for people to hide behind. When people use the word “all” it allows people who aren’t directly affected by the situation to feel like they do not need to take a stand against the discrimination, the violence, the injustice they are witnessing. To put it simply, as stated by many prominent celebrities like P!NK and Tatianna, “All lives cannot matter until black lives do.” If we, as a society, cannot take a stand when one group is being targeted – whether it be Jews, homosexuals, blacks, Christians, Hispanics, police officers, whoever – what hope do we have for standing for all lives. Tell me you wouldn’t judge a man who, in the wake of the Orlando shooting, started protesting that heterosexual lives matter, too. It would be disrespectful and unfair to the victims, their loved ones and their supporters. The same goes for the Black Lives Matter movement. After the recent deaths of both Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, as well as the deaths Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Dontre Hamilton, John Crawford III, Ezell Ford, Dante Parker, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Sandra Bland and so many more, it is not hard to see where the anger is coming from. Many people who respond that #AllLivesMatter will also say that “White people are killed, too.” This is probably one of the most degrading and offensive things you could say in response to something like this. And it is because of responses like this that All Lives Matter is not the motto for the movement. When you say that "All lives matter," you are becoming the proverbial blanket that is used to cover the problem. I'm sure many of you have noticed, but you usually do not see #AllLivesMatter protest, unless it is used as a response to almost silence the voice of people who are hurting.
That being said, #BlackLivesMatter doesn’t mean that blue lives do not. Police officers, the men and women chosen to defend our lives, matter just as much as we do. There are bad people of every color and background in our society, but that does not mean that because one apple is bad, that all the apples in the bunch are, too. Police officers have a hard job to uphold, arguably one of the hardest jobs there is, and we should respect and honor the people who chose to defend us from domestic attacks. The events in Dallas are sickening. To think that someone would target innocent officers for the color of their skin and the badge they wear, it is heart-wrenching! What a world we live in where you can either be on the side of the law or the side of the people. Because we all know that it is that black and white (please note the sarcasm).
Now with all this information, I want you to think about this. If #BlackLivesMatter bothers you because it says “Black” and not “All” then you may be a part of the problem. If you are so worried about whether this hashtag is all inclusive and not worried about the black men and women being murdered by the very people that are supposed to protect them, I don’t think you are seeing the big picture. People are dying, at an alarming rate, at the hands of the police. If you cannot acknowledge that then the problem is not in “All” or “Black,” but how hearing Black Lives Matters makes you feel. It is meant to make you feel uncomfortable, and move you to action. So let the uncomfortable feeling pass and take a stand with us.
The truth of the matter is that there is a bridge between police and the communities that they serve, and the only way to begin fixing these problems to begin to bridge that gap. I am tired of seeing innocent black people killed because they looked dangerous or reached for something, while the white guy who killed all those black church goers, in Charleston at their bible study, got treated to Burger King before being taken away to jail. I’m tired of being worried for my brothers when they go outside at night, or when they grow their hair out, or cut it in a way that allows them to be profiled. I’m tired of being afraid that when I leave a grocery or clothing store, that something may not have been scanned right and the alarm will go off and I will look like I was trying to steal something. I’m tired of being judged by the color of my skin and I’m tired of not having the same cultural and societal rights as my white friends. I'm tired of being of afraid of becoming a statistic. I'm tired of our society allowing racially charged stereotypical jokes to be a sort of "norm," as if being a minority is a choice we are given instead of born with. I'll be the first to admit that I have indulged in these jokes with my own friends, and am now starting to realize that it isn't right, whether it is a joke about your own race or someone else's. It is time that we all took a stand. No more blaming it on “black behavior.” No more yelling about how it isn't just black lives being ended. No more staying quiet, thinking it is not your problem, not your battle. No matter what color your skin is, we all bleed red, and we are all faced with this horrifying reality: if we do not take a stand, voice our outrage or assist in the solution, there will be more shootings like the one in Dallas. When you corner even the tamest animals, they will lash out in fear. We need to get rid of the fear that our society is filled with, and we need to start right now.
