Do white lives matter? As an old white guy, of course we do. But when anyone says that “all lives matter” or, even more nonsensically, that “white lives matter,” it demonstrates such ignorance of the “Black lives matter” meme they are denigrating that it suggests they must have been drinking the water from Camp Lejune.
The problem with the “All lives [or even more absurdly, white] matter” thing is that it sounds superficially innocent, but subverts the point:
It is like a room full of people are all eating dinner. Everyone has been served and is enjoying their meal … except one person, who has no food.
So the one person says, “I need food.”
And everyone else says, “Everyone needs food,” and keep on eating.
Yes, it is true, everyone needs food. But while everyone else has food and is eating, we need to focus the attention on the person who does not have the food.
And yes, it is true. All lives matter.
But ALL lives are not the ones with targets on their backs. All lives are not the ones having INNOCENT, UNARMED private citizens disproportionately killed or brutalized, and the ones who are being disproportionately killed or brutalized are the ones we need to be focusing on, to end the brutality.
Do white lives matter? As an old white guy, of course we do. But when anyone says that “all lives matter” or, even more nonsensically, that “white lives matter,” it demonstrates such ignorance of the “Black lives matter” meme they are denigrating that it suggests they must have been drinking the water from Camp Lejune.
The problem with the “All lives [or even more absurdly, white] matter” thing is that it sounds superficially innocent, but subverts the point:
It is like a room full of people are all eating dinner. Everyone has been served and is enjoying their meal … except one person, who has no food.
So the one person says, “I need food.”
And everyone else says, “Everyone needs food,” and keep on eating.
Yes, it is true, everyone needs food. But while everyone else has food and is eating, we need to focus the attention on the person who does not have the food.
And yes, it is true. All lives matter.
But ALL lives are not the ones with targets on their backs. All lives are not the ones having INNOCENT, UNARMED private citizens disproportionately killed or brutalized, and the ones who are being disproportionately killed or brutalized are the ones we need to be focusing on, to end the brutality.