Black Lives DO Matter

I get so sick and tired of racist white people claiming "all lives matter." It is such bullshit and indicates either the person saying that is an outright racist or just dumber than shit.

You see, it's not an "either/or" statement. Saying "black lives matter" does not exclude any other lives. It says, 'These other lives are working as intended, don't have issues, and don't need perspective or introspection; however, this subset of all the lives does need looking at -- something isn't working as intended over here.'

For example, when one of these racist assholes has a POW/MIA flag on their truck or flying at their home, are they saying, "Fuck all the military that currently serves, we ONLY care about those who are missing in action or prisoners of war. They are all that matter!" No, of course not. It is so obvious that the flags are intended only as reminders so that people don't forget about this one subset of the entire military who sometimes gets swept under the rug and not talked about during our daily lives -- hell, even during Memorial Day and Veterans Day celebrations.

When we look at milk cartons and see missing children's faces are we saying, "Missing children are all that matter. Missing adults don't matter at all!" No, of course not. But many people aren't aware of just how many children go missing, so we thought it might be a good idea to post this subset of missing people and highlight the problem so more people are aware and more people keep them in mind.

The point is, black people cannot trust that they will be safe around cops. They can't trust themselves that they will be safe around general white people (who may call the police on them for common, everyday activities, like BBQing, birdwatching, walking around their neighborhood, and other things white folks do without any extra thought). A black person may be arrested, beaten, and/or killed for no reason at all. But white folks don't have that fear. White folks don't think, 'Shit, it's after dark. I better not take a walk around my neighborhood wearing my favorite hoodie or my neighbors might shoot me.' It just doesn't happen that way. Yet every black person has to consider that.

There's a reason you see so many women of every color at BLM rallies: women have a similar fear of men. Men have created a hostile world where women aren't in control of their own bodies, are often seen as things instead of people, and who have to navigate around hostilities that men either don't see, don't experience, or promote. So, women get it. 

There's a reason why #MeToo happened. There's a reason why #BlackLivesMatter is happening again now. The marginalized and terrified are sick of being afraid. AND THEY ARE RIGHT. Women shouldn't be afraid of men. Black (and other "colors") people shouldn't live their lives afraid of white people, white justice systems, white juries, and white-run prison systems. We shouldn't assume a woman walking down a dark street at night is okay to rape. We shouldn't assume a black man walking down a dark street is a predator. Hell, we shouldn't assume a black woman sleeping in her bed is somehow a threat that needs to be shot eight times.

Black lives matter. Women matter. And, yes, "all lives matter." But, you know what white people? You've been on top and it has been smooth sailing for you for quite some time now. Maybe it's time to take a look at how far back everyone else is and figure out some way to level the playing field.

And, if you don't want to, if you think whites 'have it bad' in some way, or if you think that helping other sexes or ethnicities to succeed is somehow going to take something away from you... fuck you. You fucking racist.