All Lives Do Not Matter
All Lives Do Not Matter
It’s fact. They don’t. What we need to say is that all lives should matter. And this is why movements such as Black Lives Matter and #MeToo are so important to our society today. We need to give voices to the oppressed and listen when they speak. Responding to a BLM protest by stating that ‘all lives matter’ is counterproductive, racist and shows your fear of no longer being in control. It also makes you a massive part of the problem.
White lives are easier lives to live. White people have faced much less oppression, racism and hatred due to the colour of their skin and will never fully understand the true emotions behind BLM. White people can empathise, learn and understand, heck, they can also be angry, but we must all stand together.
Oppressed people tend to either remove themselves from situations for an easier life or get angry. And now is the time for them to be furious. If you are in a place or privilege (i.e. being white), you need to use your voice to help those quieter than you. I have read recently that oppression is like a megaphone. If you are oppressed, you do not have one; if you are privileged, you do. Sometimes you need to speak into that megaphone on behalf of the oppressed or stand aside and let them use it.
By saying ‘All lives matter’ you are not only refusing to share your megaphone, but you are turning round and using it against the oppressed, whilst shouting into their face. You are also refusing the hard work of the BLM movement and detracting from black people’s concerns that are challenging structural racism. The point of Black Lives Matter is to highlight the extent to which black lives have not mattered in this country and by arguing this point, you are arguing against the cause.
Karl Phillips & The Rejects puts this perfectly in his new track, ‘Ingurland’ when he responds to a ‘White Lives Matter’ chant by simply saying “well, yeah, but your life’s always mattered. Try being constantly persecuted for 400 years and see how you feel about it then. You absolute fucking melt”. Gloriously put.
The need to remind others that your life matters is a result of feeling in danger, hence why the Black Lives Matter movement started in 2013 following George Zimmerman’s Not Guilty verdict for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. However, by taking BLM and twisting it to make it about yourself and whinging that ‘all lives matter’, you are disrespecting the whole movement and are, as Phillips suggests, “a fucking met”.
A Cambridge expert, Dr Meghji stated, “This is discrimination that white people simply do not experience. Therefore to say ‘All Lives Matter’ erases the experience of black people — which ‘Black Lives Matter’ highlights. Black people are treated as though their lives don’t matter, white people less so.”
On the topic of looting and rioting, Dr Meghji continued, “In my opinion, reports of violence, looting and rioting have been extremely hyperbolic. For the most part, these protests have been peaceful. Indeed, even if there are cases of rioting, it is interesting that we tend to focus more on that then the fact that it was violence from a state institution (the police) which was the main spark for these protests.”
The Black Lives Matter organisers for London called off the protests last weekend in an attempt to avoid clashes with far-right groups who flooded the streets. However, in defence of when riots do occur, Martin Luther King Jr once famously said: “A riot is the language of the unheard.”
‘All lives matter’, ‘white lives matter’ and even ‘blue lives matter’ (?!??!) will always highlight the stupidity of some of the human race. It is not hard to show compassion or love towards others and it actually takes less effort to show love than it does to hate. I beg anyone who witnesses racism or any type of oppression happening around them to stand up and share their megaphone with whoever needs it most.
Oh, and stop being a “fucking melt”.
Words by Jasmine Hodge
@ObviouslyItsJaz
Image taken from: Occupy.com
