Disclaimer:
Dear Nicholas, please understand that my following comments are neither an attack at you personally, nor at white civilization. Rather, they are simply an attempt to break down and explain the mistakes and misunderstandings that come with supporting the #AllLivesMatter movement. My intention is to explain racism in America and why #BlackLivesMatter, despite the fact that it seems to support only a specific group in America, is essential to maintaining equality in the United States.
You can say we live in a country of equality all you want, but it's so easy to say that when you're a straight white male. I mean, yeah you're probably sick of hearing that- but isn't it true? There's no equality here. The Equal Rights Amendment still doesn't guarantee women the same rights as men, there's extreme racial profiling all over the country, and religious discrimination. I mean, states are getting away with not following federal laws on the basis of Christianity, which is blatant discrimination to anyone who's non-Christian. There's just zero percent accuracy in saying that we have equality. We WANT to have equality, but we're not there yet.
It's not really okay to say that the end goal of the #blacklivesmatter movement is to create a world where only black lives matter. It's just a fact that there is still racism in america. The intent of black lives matter in their defense to #alllivesmatter is that #alllivesmatter is just a way of silencing black people by saying they don't matter- it's like pretending racism doesn't exist. It just ignores the problem and overrides the voices of black people.
Here is a very simple explanation for the intentions of the BLM movement:
Imagine that you’re sitting down to dinner with your family, and while everyone else gets a serving of the meal, you don’t get any. So you say “I should get my fair share.” And as a direct response to this, your dad corrects you, saying, “everyone should get their fair share.” Now, that’s a wonderful sentiment — indeed, everyone should, and that was kinda your point in the first place: that you should be a part of everyone, and you should get your fair share also. However, dad’s smart-ass comment just dismissed you and didn’t solve the problem that you still haven’t gotten any!
The problem is that the statement “I should get my fair share” had an implicit “too” at the end: “I should get my fair share, too, just like everyone else.” But your dad’s response treated your statement as though you meant “only I should get my fair share”, which clearly was not your intention. As a result, his statement that “everyone should get their fair share,” while true, only served to ignore the problem you were trying to point out.
BLM supporters are not saying that their lives are more important, just that they are also important, and they don't feel like they are being treated as such. So when you say that BLM supporters are saying that they are more important, I’m sorry, but that’s wrong. When you (not you specifically, just a general you) hear “Black Lives Matter” and get offended, it’s because you are making it about yourself, you’re upset that you aren’t being included- sound familiar?
I agree with you where you reference violent riots in places like Baltimore- they don’t solve anything. Violence rarely solves anything. But saying that this violence represents the entire #blacklivesmatter movement is a huge generalization and it’s not accurate.
Next, I understand why people believe in reverse racism, because at times it does feel like POC are attacking white people, and sometimes I almost want to fall into the trap myself, but it's not a thing. POC (people of color) have been oppressed since the beginning of history and it still happens now; they have every right to call out white people for oppression, just as victims of sexual assault have the right to call out assaulters. Not every white person is racist, but if you aren't actively acknowledging that racism exists, and you aren't supporting POC, then you are essentially just allowing racism to continue. So in that sense, that's why POC target the entire white community. On top of that, racism is ingrained in our culture and our language. It’s called ‘casual racism’. We think that because certain rules or phrases or events are a norm, that both us and the black community are okay with it. It has reached the point where we don’t even realize the racism that we spread, because it’s our norm. It’s our job as good people, and understanding people, that we look for racism in society and attempt to stop it.
You can't really combat the killings of black people with the killings of white people. You explain that while stuff was going down at Mizzou, a white person was killed by black people just for being white. I mean, that's literally what's happening at Mizzou- black students, even ones who aren't protesting, are having their lives threatened just for being black. So you're basically using your own logic against yourself. It just doesn't work.
I believe that all lives matter. Of course, but there’s more to it than that, and you and I don't have the right to speak for POC. We don't have the right to act like we understand where they are coming from. You may not feel this way, which is fine, but I come from the viewpoint that the best thing I can do is be an ally to black students, because I can't personally understand where they are coming from. All I can do is share their sentiments and try my best to help them, which in my opinion is really just being a nice person. But, I'm also not going to support something I don't agree with, and I have done so in the past- for example, not supporting violence as a means of achieving equality.
Quick note- you can’t really say white privilege is okay because students of color get priority when it comes to being accepted into schools. Those policies are in place because white privilege exists. If we didn’t have those policies, then American racism and white privilege (which has literally existed since the days of Columbus, and I know you think he’s a good guy, but genocide of native Americans is really not okay), would allow for students of color not to be accepted into schools.
In summary, you can believe that all lives matter. That’s fine, because they do, you just have to acknowledge the fact that there are people out there who don’t believe that, and that’s why the BLM movement exists. Black Lives matter, too.
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