How and When Lives Matter
If you have not yet come around to #blacklivesmatter on the principle that #alllivesmatter, I do not judge you or think less of you. And I certainly don’t think you’re a “bad” or “stupid” person. But, similar to those who oppose feminism out of concern for true equality, I think there’s simply a misconception (likely no fault of your own) on what this movement is truly about. Facts remain that (in general) in the United States of America (and its media) African Americans are treated radically different for a variety of “reasons.” The problem, I’d like to suggest, isn’t that justice was not brought for the deaths of the Tamir Rices & Freddie Greys. It’s that a system that claims to be colorblind is very clearly not. It’s when a young brown boy (Tamir Rice) & a young white man (Dylan Roof) have the police meet them with different responses–choosing a more strategic & gentle route with the one of the two who had already accrued a body count upon their arrival.
If the problem were the lack of justice actually obtained with our justice system, this fight would read something like #justicematters. But that fact is not the one for which resolution is currently being sought. The problem that the #blacklivesmatter movement is attempting to address is that African Americans, or “Blacks” are treated with far more hostility & less rationality than “Whites.” The issue here is not simply the mistreatment of one group of people, but the lack of EQUAL treatment for everyone.
You see, it’s not the shooters that are the primary problem here, it’s the system that processes them and tells them that there are different standards of appropriate, wise, and safe self governance depending on the amount of melanin in your skin. The thing here, is that this is not a black vs. white issue–although many would have you believe it is. It is an established and imbalanced system vs. social equality. If this were simply a government issue, it wouldn’t be that big of an issue; the root is far more embedded and subconscious than most realize because it’s the ingrained belief and social norm that African Americans are more aggressive, less rational, more manipulative, and less contributing than other members of society BECAUSE they are African American. This more, in turn, allows society to find it acceptable that they are treated more sternly–as one would misbehaving children, than others. Unfortunately, this is the same mentality that determines a “successful & respectable” black adult to be an exception rather than the standard. Which, in celebrating the “rare occurrence” of an admirable black person, and simply reporting their failures, reaffirms this idea. When that which is considered standard for the white youth is considered impressive for the black youth, their view of themselves (along with the community’s view of them) is further shaped in the current unbalanced mold of our culture. It subconsciously justifies the different treatment. And it’s a cycle that self-propels, accommodates, and rationalizes.
The most dangerous thing I’ve found this far is, however, that I haven’t a single realistic clue on how to stop it.
-Selah-