Why non-BIPOC tend to respond to BLM statements with ALM counters

Written by CM Lucas

“All lives matter.” We’ve all heard or at least read that particular statement in the past year or so. Often following a BLM statement, that particular counter is not just the go-to phrase for the ultra-conservative or the folks on the extreme right; in fact, you may find yourself overhearing a neighbor spouting that phrase, or a co-worker sharing that very sentiment. 

Then why? Why would otherwise rational, good-willed people feel obliged to counter the statement, Black lives matter at all? Defensiveness and ignorance are interesting concepts, to say the least. Too often, we as humans feel personally attacked or an overwhelming need to justify illogical actions or thoughts; “All Lives Matter,” in this case, is a response of an uninformed, oblivious or selfish individual(s) against a perceived attack. The BLM movement is not an attack, It is us as a people demanding to be acknowledged, respected and treated as… human. The movement is not an attack on Caucasians, rather a light being shown on the problem of systemic societal failure toward your fellow human.

It took approximately eight minutes and forty-six seconds of an unquestionable abuse of power to finally cause us as a collective people to say, “Enough.” 400 years of slavery, to the civil rights movement and subsequent riots that followed until we find ourselves in the modern era; where we bear witness to the failure of justice regarding Rodney King and ultimately the murder of Trayvon Martin and George Floyd, to name a few.

To be blunt, the fact of the matter is this, if black lives did indeed matter, the BLM statement would  have never been uttered by a single person on the pale blue dot that is the Earth.  And the day we as a people truly join together as one, the phrase Black Lives Matter will become as antiquated and useless as the actions that led to the movement, to begin with. Here’s hoping.

African Americans are Americans, period. Building and shaping this nation on their backs despite unbelievable inequality and persecution, all in the name of making a nation they never wanted to be in, home. All Lives Matter? Actions speak louder than words.