I know that this isn’t central to the Trump Crisis. But it is still about a liberal issue and I wanted to share it.
I witnessed an interesting interaction this week while a few friends gathered to watch a game. One wore a “Black Lives Matter” shirt and another one (who is known for recreational arguing) made a crack about “All Lives Matter.” My BLM friend’s response to the other guy (ALM) was magic! I’ll refer to them as ALM & BLM while I paraphrase / summarize their ensuing conversation...
ALM: You know that more White men are killed by cops than Black Men?
BLM: Yes, in raw numbers it is about 2:1, but the White population is more than four times larger than the Black population so proportionally Black men are more likely to be killed by cops than White men.
ALM: But the White men’s lives matter, too
BLM: Agreed!
ALM: So why aren’t you demonstrating when White kids like Daryl Nobel are killed?
BLM: Why aren’t you demonstrating then they’re killed?
ALM: (sputters)
BLM: Look, if you want to raise awareness of this — and I think you should — then do it! Don’t complain that no one else is doing it for you. The BLM community would embrace other groups — if they’re sincere — groups like “White Lives Matter”, “Latino Lives Matter”, “Asian Lives Matter.” Anyone who raises awareness of the militarization of police is a welcome ally, especially if it shows that it affects all races and no one is safe. Plus, if more people, people of all races stood up, we’d see quicker change and cops would be killing fewer Whites and Blacks today. But you’re sitting this out and progress is slow, because only one race is standing up. Maybe that’s why the Black Lives Matter folks don’t chant “All Lives Matter” because we cannot answer the question “If it is really ‘All Lives Matter’, how come the Blacks are the only ones doing anything about it?”
I thought to myself “Good point! If you really thought ‘All Lives Matter’ you’d think that we ALL should protest police violence.”