All Lives Matter

The Destructive Counterpoint to an unselfish Civil movement- An opinionated piece

#Blacklivesmatter drawing by Georgia State student, TaMira Wiley

Black Lives Matter (BLM), an activist movement that was established to address police brutality and systematic racism towards the Black community has been active since 2013; yet, the motive is as old as [adjective].

In response, the moniker All Lives Matter [and Blue Lives Matter] was created to demean and discredit the purpose of the Black Lives Matter movement. Just because we say “Black Lives Matter”, that does not mean we want to be the superior race; All we want is equality.

We have experienced police brutality and racism for no reason inside our community. I find it peculiar that we have passed laws in the past century supposedly making us equal yet, we are here still demanding to be treated like a human being and citizen of the United States. I find it peculiar that there are people on earth that are uncomfortable around someone else just because of their skin color. It is disgusting to know racism could have been old news, but families still uphold these wrong values. Racist people judge others based on the way others look instead of getting to know them. I have seen countless videos on social media platform, Tik Tok, where white people are asking Black people, “how’s my form,” while pretending to pick cotton. This is unacceptable. I found it disgusting and racist. Another example on Tik Tok shows a young white man who was pretending to be handcuffed by a cop.

Considering everything that is going on in the world, especially in the Black community, you would think they would use common sense and not upload these videos onto social media. A buzzing trend throughout this app is users telling others who do not like the United States to leave and go back to where they came from. I find this comment extremely ignorant considering that they do not know where people are from. I was born in America. I personally do not agree with numerous actions that the government takes. If I could get dual citizenship for an African country, I would. I would love to experience a different environment and country.

My experiences with racism is just an addition to the common flaws many other Black men and women face in America. I have been followed around beauty supply stores and other establishments, as if I was planning to steal. However, one of my pivotal moments facing a world that does not see what I see is when I got into an argument with one of my white male friends. I did not know he was a Donald Trump supporter during our time together in high school; he was silent on his stance in politics. While my friends and I spoke on the disgusting actions of President Trump, he never added his input.. By graduation, we found out that he was a Trump supporter and was avoiding the topic all along. I did not want to be friends with someone that supported Trump. We have a right to our own opinions and beliefs. And we also have a right to not be friends when we do not like their political view. Of course, he commented on how bad of a president Barack Obama was; he questioned why I supported him. Honestly, I supported him because he was like me, Black, and Obama-Care. I did not know much about Obama because he was in office when I was in elementary and middle school. I did not care for politics during the time. When Trump was elected, I was a freshman in high school. After he won the election, school had a different atmosphere. Many students cried or were angered because he was elected. We later talked about police brutality and racism in general. I remembered the death of Trayvon Martin being significant and heartbreaking for a lot of kids and I during that time. . . I was scared to wear a hoodie for months. So, I used Martin as proof that racism does exist. My friend then asked if I considered that ‘maybe it was Martin’s fault and George Zimmeran was just using self defense.’ I was deeply shocked and offended, After this encounter, I did not speak to him for months until one of my other friends told me that he wanted to apologize. I still manage to keep my distance from him. Especially since I found out that he posts and laughs at racist tik toks in a group chat with a few of his white friends. This would not be the end. . .

I am now in college and another social issue faces me and a white counterpart. One day I had a conversation with my roommate about a social media figure, Jeffree Star. We discussed the mishap where Star called Black people a derogatory term, “niggers,” in retaliation to some Black people calling him the f-word in the comments. To my surprise, My roommate felt so comfortable around me that she said “nigger” in front of me. I told her to never say it again. Instead of apologizing, she excused it by saying, “I was only repeating it.” That is one of the biggest problems that a lot of black people have with non-blacks; If you are not Black do not say the n-word! It does not matter if you are repeating it from a rap song or gossip. I was uncomfortable around my roommate, I was confused as to what made her think it was okay to say that. I have never said the word in front of her for this specific reason. I did not want her to think it was okay.

Another foul experience came with my roommate complaining about the ‘housecleaning’ of our shower. She took a photo of Type 4 hair; afro-textured or kinky hair to Black women that was on the shower wall and sent it to the residence floor group chat. What I found appalling about this is-was that there was Type 1 and 2 hair [non-natural hair] on the shower wall as well. She explicitly zoomed in on the type 4 hair. Eventually, I made sure to stand clear of her.

Nevertheless, my experiences and the racist encounters that go viral on social media prove that racism still exists;this is why BLM was created. Remember, it costs zero dollars to be anti-racist. All lives can't matter until everyone starts treating each other, specifically blacks, equally.

Our life matters too.

We would love to go back home safely every night and live our lives without fear of being killed by a racist cop or fearful vigilante.