The Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests at Netroots Nation this week has opened a can of worms within this community and while the purpose of this diary is not to delve into the whether or not the protest was effective or even appropriate (I still don't understand why protests should be 'appropriate'), I want to talk about an issue I've seen some comments about. Namely, what's wrong with Martin O'Malley responding to the chants of "Black Lives Matter" by saying
Black lives matter. White lives matter. All lives matter.
What's wrong with saying "All lives matter"?
First I want to clear up something that I thought would have been self evident, but apparently is not. When the protesters said "Black Lives Matter", they did not mean "Black Lives Matter More", ok?
Also, if you are not aware of the very real fear black people feel when stopped by a police officer then I suggest you follow Shaun King's work. Simply put, black people are disproportionately treated as if they were, in essence, disposable by the police and state.
So then, why was O'Malley wrong in saying "All Lives Matter"?
The real issue with saying "All lives matter" is as one protester responded to O'Malley
"Don't generalize this s***!"
Of course "All lives matter". And all lives matter
equally, but by uttering this banal statement in response to a rallying cry for a very specific problem, O'Malley is avoiding the very root of the problem that black people face. How can the systematic oppression faced by black people at the hands of police be addressed if the issue of color is taken off the table? They are disproportionately abused and killed precisely because of the color of their skin.
To better understand this situation, from my perspective, let's tell a story.
Imagine a house that was on fire. Now imagine the homeowner, Janet, running to her neighbors, crying out for help, but instead of her neighbors helping, they take offense. "Why should her house get more attention than mine? I need a new roof!" thinks one. "Look at that rude Janet, yelling and screaming, I'm entertaining guests!" says another to her husband. Janet knocks on another neighbor's door, only to be greeted with a surly "I'm sorry, but all our houses are important".
In the story, Janet represents the BLM protesters and her burning house is the oppression black people face at the hands of police. Now, if you can understand why the neighbors' reactions were wrong then you can see why saying "All lives matter" (ALM) in response to BLM is wrong. It uses a very banal slogan (ALM) to draw attention away from the real and pressing issue that black people face, that other races do not feel to the same extent. If you feel offended when someone says BLM, then I say you're like those neighbors in my story. And I invite you to step outside your self-absorbed bubble and to try to imagine what it's like to wonder if your next encounter with a police officer will be your last.
EDIT: Here are some data on police killing by race, provided by Sassine in the comments.
Groups most likely murdered by police by race and age, with Blacks leading: http://www.dailykos.com/...
Interactive count of people killed by police in 2015, with Black more than doubling all other ethnic groups: http://www.theguardian.com/...
I also changed the title so to avoid any confusion about the direction of the diary.