Do Black Lives Really Matter? | The Odyssey Online
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Politics and Activism

Do Black Lives Really Matter?

Yes.

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Do Black Lives Really Matter?
Scott Olson

Do black lives really matter?

We live in a world where life is constantly changing for many individuals. The way humanity operates has certainly evolved throughout each generation. The ability to use technology to capture pictures and videos in seconds has refined the landscape of our society currently and for generations to come. Today, we see an America that is even more divided than it was when the Civil War was about to erupt. America is supposed to be the land of opportunity and represent the ideals of freedom, but the issue of mistreatment of its citizens by the government that protects us is thrown to the side like trash repeatedly. How many black and brown men will have to be killed for us to come together? Yes, my President is African American and I am proud of that, but that has not stopped black males from being killed at the hands of police brutality.

In 2016, one can still flip on to the news and see African American men be mistreated and shown no respect at all. In history this is nothing new, but African Americans have always been treated badly and locked in jail, at a higher rate than whites. With the presence of social media in this ever growing media platform, things can now go viral in minutes, and that is allowing the black community to see the violence that is making African American males a target to be killed at any time.

Innocent black lives are being taken left and right. When will we as black men stand up and make things happen? Let’s hope soon, because there aren’t many of us walking around anymore. African American males only make up 6% of the world population. Many of us brothers are already dealing with legal issues, some that includes jail time that is constantly holding us back. We say that Black lives matter but will we put our creative minds together to make the change that we want to see happen? Indeed we can point the blame individually all day long, but to make changes we have to become the system and educate ourselves on the laws of the world. To make the system better we have to stand up for our rights or nobody else will.

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