A brief and straightforward explanation
I’m tired of hearing BLM. They weren’t even the first slaves. Why are black people so extra? Why do their lives matter and ours don’t? All lives matter. Blue lives matter. More white people are killed than black people every year by the police.
Similar comments appear on social media, viral videos, news outlets, email, postal mail (if you can believe it), and in-person conversations. I have not met a week since the horrific death of George Floyd, that I don’t hear statements such as the ones listed above.
The 1st Amendment allows freedom of speech, thus our feelings to be shared. I say feelings because this is where these type statements come from. They are not based on logic nor critical thinking. They are based on emotions. Whether you have hate or love in your heart, some minds have taken a backseat to this debate recently.
Let me play devil’s advocate here. I have heard people’s pleas and are aware of the passionate positions from all sides of the parties involved.
First, let us break down the issues and see where we fair, shall we?
White people are killed more by cops yearly, then black people.
First off, why the heck aren’t you enraged by this? Second, are these statistics relevant to the black people murdered by law enforcement? Meaning, did they fall in the same criteria? Let me give you an example. Are said white people racially profiled by the color of their white skin, detained for non-violent offenses, or no offenses at all, resulting in the automatic escalation of law enforcement without provocation? If so, ‘Houston we have a problem.’
Black people weren’t even the first slaves in America.
That would be true; Native Americans were the first. Native American people were enslaved, murdered, raped, pillaged, stripped of their land & dignity, and forcefully converted to Christianity.
Why, you ask? The founders and settlers of America, Native Americans, practiced a different lifestyle than that of the white man. They were considered savages, and their life was valued as that of property and not of a person.
After some time, African Americans were kidnapped and brought to America to face the same fate as the Native Americans.
So, why does it matter that they weren’t the first? It doesn’t. Why is African American slavery apart of the BLM movement today? Those horrid acts of the past affect how black people continue being treated today.
All lives matter.
Yes, they do.
However, people of color, statistically speaking, black people are more likely to die or be assaulted by the hands of law enforcement without provocation. Black people are more likely to have the police called on them without committing a crime. Black people are more likely to be killed by law enforcement for a non-violent offense.
The Black Lives Matter movement isn’t saying other lives DON’T matter. It is merely saying, “Hey, I’d like to live without fear of being killed by the police for being black. I want to hold the same value to a police officer as a person not-of-color. The BLM movement begs the question, why am I not considered a person due to the color of my skin?”
Blue Lives Matter
Absolutely, they do.
Police officers have a high-stress job. They are elected to serve and protect their communities at high risk with insufficient pay for this risk. Police officers tasked with putting their lives on the line to protect every citizen regardless of race, religion, gender, physical/mental ability, sexual orientation, or age.
Police officers do their part to uphold the law, maintain order, and protect. Most officers do their job well and keep to their oath of this enormous responsibility. Police officers and their families have a fear that they may not come home one day due to the work they perform.
The difference between law enforcement and people of color or black people is that a police officer wears a uniform. A police officer has the free will to choose their profession, knowing the dangers it entails. A police officer’s uniform is removed at the end of their shift. Black people do not have the luxury to select their race or hang up their black skin at the end of the day.
In Conclusion
Slavery, however significant, is not the issue today. Its influence on the treatment of black people is undoubtedly contributing factors. Though slavery has ended, the persecution of black people, the discarding of black people continues because they were born with a darker tone of skin than the majority of people. Black people are profiled not by their actions or inactions, but by the color of their skin. Systemic racism is not just an American issue; it happens all over the world. More the reason that the violence and the hate need to stop, now!
Simply put: Black lives matter, too.
