I think we are suffering what might be called a tragedy of nomenclature.


The original reason for the "Black Lives Matter" phrase, was to emphasize that all the most influential social entities (the mass media, government institutions) were behaving consistently and habitually, as though it was entirely to be expected, that non-white people would be killed or violently abused by government officials on a daily basis.

The perception was (and is) that the same is not assumed about "whites."

Thus the phrase selected would much more accurately have been

"Black Lives Matter Just As Much As Everyone Else's."

Perhaps that didn't seem "kicky" enough, or perhaps Mass Media don't perk up their "ears" for "sound bites" that are more than five words long.

The tragedy of choosing the shorter and "kickier" "Black Lives Matter," is that it immediately triggered the reaction that makes up at least half of the opposition to this cause. That is, that many people who entirely agree that everyone's life should matter, felt stung by being rebuked, and about seeming to be told that ONLY "Black Lives Matter."

Essentially, it's an accident of grammar.

And that accident, allowed the remaining minority of people who wanted to continue to have the government support racial superiority and inferiority, to gain allies amongst many who actually entirely OPPOSE inequality under the law.

And then, just as happened back in the sixties, the back and forth hostilities and raised voices, led to escalations of misunderstandings, and to some people beginning to speak out even MORE sloppily, and make even MORE irritating, and not-entirely-accurate accusations, alienating even MORE people who would otherwise be allies to the original cause.

And so we have an ultimate irony, that the phrase "All Lives Matter" is now is seen to mean that non-whites should continue to be treated as less important than whites, as though it doesn't mean what its words actually say.

Some people look at the negative in everything

Only one thing is certain and that is that the lives of the poor have never mattered at any time to any form of Government. If any group wants to compete for bottom position on the dung heap, they are welcome to it but they will be facing some pretty stiff competition.

It is not a competition. Black people are just finally speaking out about where they are placed.

Understood. I don't see it that way. I don't see it as a white black thing even. I see it as an incredibly insensitive reply to a concern that is in front of you. Like I said, very similar to telling the one kid at the table without any food on their plate that 'everyone wants food' when they say "i would like some food".
I don't know who would assume the kid meant that everyone didn't want food.

Black people have been speaking out about where they are placed for the last 150 years and a lot has changed in that time, its time for them to stop speaking about it and take responsibility for their own choices and do something about it for themselves.

And by saying do something about it I do not mean riot, loot, and burn a city! Blacks are allowed to vote, blacks are allowed to own property, blacks can have high paying jobs, blacks can start their own businesses, blacks can control how many children they have and at what point in life they chose to have them, blacks are allowed to move from where they are currently at, blacks are allowed to chose roll models that do good for their community instead of bad. Their are many things that blacks are able to do if they take advantage of their rights, and take responsibility for their actions.

At least they changed "Global Warming" to "Global Climate Change". Need to consult a public perception analyst.

I think Ms Harmony wants acknowledgement that black lives matter,

and Igor wants the blacks to be successful in getting the government to keep them them safe.

Is this correct?

All lives matter? Really? Why are we so opposed to illegal immigrants?
Their lives don't seem to matter so much to us.
All lives matter? Really? Why are we so opposed to assistance for those without the money to have food and shelter? Their lives don't seem to matter so much to us.
All lives matter? Really? Why are we so eager to get back to working and partying and raising risks for the elderly and sick? Their lives don't seem to matter so much to us.

All lives matter? Really? Why is it God Bless America instead of God Bless the world?

All lives matter? Really? Or is it just a clever nuanced way to dismiss the concerns of a movement that dares to call itself Black Lives Matter?

The phrase All lives matter is certainly true. Using that phrase as a response to BLM is an intellectually dishonest tangent.

This has been an OPINION only.

Thank you!

I absolutely understand and agree that the "all lives matter" retort sounds dismissive, and I am sure that in many ways and cases, that it is. I was only pointing out the dynamic I witnessed unfolding, and my personal frustration with it.

I do want the government's job to see to it that EVERYONE is protected as needed, and has their personal freedoms defended as much as possible, and have the lives of their descendants seen to as well (re Global Climate Change).

I also agree that I see a lot of other biases mixing in with each other. Sometimes it's hard to be sure how much a given person is being abused and ignored because they aren't a white male, and how much they are being abused and ignored because they are poor, or lower class Southern, or female, or foreign, or just "funny looking."

I am often reminded these days, of the to do over Natalie Holloway, back in 1986. What happened to her (which we can still only deduce) was certainly horrible, but it also appeared that the reason HER disappearance made national and even international news, was because she was the pretty blonde daughter of well to do white Americans. I was glad that her apparent murder would be solved, but I was on the side of all the other parents and friends of murdered people who WEREN'T rich and cute, who wanted the same justice.

This is all very important real life, of real people, but too often it is dealt with habitually, especially in corporate mass media, and in politics, as though it is some grand game, where those with the most clever sound bites, or the most prestigious supporting quotes from ancient deified leaders of the past, get to "win," and the actual problems never get addressed.

And by saying do something about it I do not mean riot, loot, and burn a city! Blacks are allowed to vote, blacks are allowed to own property, blacks can have high paying jobs, blacks can start their own businesses, blacks can control how many children they have and at what point in life they chose to have them, blacks are allowed to move from where they are currently at, blacks are allowed to chose roll models that do good for their community instead of bad. Their are many things that blacks are able to do if they take advantage of their rights, and take responsibility for their actions.