For those of you that think ‘all lives matter’ heres a quick and easy explanation

[TeddyIsaHe]

MN can be extremely racist at times, most posters that have been here for a while will know this.

All lives can’t matter until black lives do. It’s something we ALL need to understand and I think this makes it very easy for people to grasp.

I've always understood it as meaning "black lives should matter", which leads you to think of course they should and why don't they.

Other people have understood it as "only black lives matter", which is where you get the "all lives matter" response from.

I think different analogues or explanations will get through to different people, so it's always worth people trying to explain it in different ways.

I put that really really badly, sorry. By “diminishing it”, I meant diminishing the power of BLM and the actual facts that have led to the movement. Or in other words, don’t ever say “but all lives matter” in the context of BLM.

It's not even saying "all lives matter" that's the problem, the problem is that all lives clearly don't matter to everyone, people need to be educated and have their beliefs and ways of thinking changed to truly believe that all lives matter and if that means emphasising that black lives matter then that's what it is going to take. The world will never be perfect, we will never make it perfect. We just need a world where anybody can live in peace and be who they are regardless of the colour of their skin. Majority of people shout equality when it comes to sexuality and gender and whatever else, why can't everyone shout equality when it comes to race.

For anyone struggling with it, just stick the word ‘too’ on the end.

Black lives matter too.

That’s it.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=4K5fbQ1-zps

Watched this again today with my children to help them understand the social media posts and news they have been seeing.

Xenia

And yet here I am, a WOC telling you otherwise.

@StrangeRange

To each and every white supremacist on this thread. Belittling and dehumanising a black person is what you have done for centuries. It is deeply ingrained in you. If I didn’t know better, I would think you were born like this.

George Floyd is dead. He called for his mum as he lay dying. Thank your lucky stars that you are white and this is not your reality that in the western world, your child dying under the knee of a white policeman. You dehumanise black people and then pathetically decry the term Karen. White fragility is really quite something.

Thank you for this post

Black. Lives. Matter.

@user1471548447

For anyone struggling with it, just stick the word ‘too’ on the end.

Black lives matter too.

That’s it.

Yes, this exactly.

And, all racism is bad. Racism against black people, white people and every colour in between should never be tolerated.

Sorry, I'm very tired! I didn't mean that those were equally valid interpretations, if it sounded like that.

More that people could read into three words in different ways, based on their backgrounds and perspectives, so analogies to explain the context from different angles can be helpful.

caringcarer
You need to take some time and listen to what black peoples are saying.

@caringcarer

It's interesting that you have decided to highlight the looting. I am assuming this is because you are assuming only black people are doing this as that's what the news is reporting. I saw a lot of footage today of white people looting stores but for some reason this hasn't been focused on in the media - I wonder why?

If everyone treated people equally yes, surely that would be best but that isn't the reality and your privilege has shown this in your post.

It's not ONE black person that this has happened to, this has happened to hundreds of black people and it happens every single day - even in the UK. It's just that it's been brought to the forefront by George Floyd being murdered in broad daylight. Black people have suffered in this way for YEARS. Your privilege has meant you don't know this because it doesn't concern you, it's not something YOU have to worry about each day so why would you know?

Your comment about Obama doesn't really stand because if people such as Rosa Parks, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X and Harriet Tubman to name bit a few couldn't stamp it out what makes you think ONE black president could or would? If anything it made closet racists go further underground and Trump has brought them out in the thousands it seems.

America was founded on violence and racism - as you'll find most of the countries around the world were too. Columbus enslaved native Americans as he thought they would make good slaves and used violence and extreme brutality to ensure they were seen as less than he was.

Take a look at what happened in the Dominican Republic. You'll find the same happened there. I'm also sure the black slaves who were taken against their will and shipped from Africa to many places around the world also didn't get on the boats willingly.

The reality is that white society has been conditioned for hundreds of years to think of black peoples as lesser beings. It's in plain sight - magazines don't sell as many units if a black person is on the cover so what do they do? They don't put black people on it. Adverts have only recently begun to use people that are not white in main roles. Black history is only taught in schools for a month every year as an after thought almost. Black peoples are statistically more likely to be stopped by the police than white counterparts because of engrained prejudices. It's everywhere you look, if you choose to take a look that is.

So your comment about all lives matter really only serves to highlight the ignorance that's been afforded to you - because of your privilege.

If you were a black persons I believe you might think differently.

It seems to me that there is so much more open racism and segregation in the US versus in Europe. Does anyone have an idea why that is?

Slavery, the history of African Americans is of being sold or stolen, transported from their homes and being enslaved - a significant part of the US social system, culture and economy was built on slavery. Black people were literally dehumanised, owned, brutalised, hunted and killed for generations. Even after emancipation Jim Crow laws acted to discriminate and degrade and segregate black people.

That legacy lingers on, in the form of intergenerational trauma and and in the significant socio economic disadvantage experienced by generations of African Americans.

The U.K. is far from innocent in that the slave trade was a significant part of our economy until slave trading was criminalised.

This is it. Nobody chose anything and pity is not selfless.

You make me want to vomit.

Did you see the articles about the 3 teenagers mimicking and mocking what happened to George Floyd? That was in the UK. Thank goodness they have been arrested. It was a stomach churning read. The UK has plenty of issues too, just not on the same scale as the US

What has happened to one black person in USA is awful, however looting and rioting does not bring the dead person back. Instead more people get killed.

It’s not happened to one black person, it’s countless black people, because they are black - it’s centuries of black people being killed.

Instead of “its horrible a black persons was killed, but the looting has to stop”

How about

“The looting is awful, but killing black people has to stop”.

I see it OP. Too often people try to ‘listen’ to an issue but can’t help relating it to their own experiences.

This is a very human thing to do and I’ve been guilty of it more than once.

Yes all lives matter. Of course. But privilege counts for a lot and those who are privileged need to acknowledge that, put their own needs aside and stand with those who have, and continue to be, downtrodden. In this case I believe the on fire house analogy to be more apt.

MN is not extremely racist.

I laughed out so loudly I almost woke the baby up.

Sure keep telling yourself that

I think it's highly offense to create terms like white privilege when it doesn't apply to all white people and make terms like black unprivilege when it doesn't apply to all black people. We need to get rid of this shitty, stereotyping nonsense asap.

Try telling a white person who was abused their whole childhood, vulnerable and then abused as an adult that they have white privilege! I dare you to. Like go on, tell that person they were born privileged with a much better chance in life than ANY black person. Ridiculous.

Deal with the task in hand. Racism is rife. There's a lot of stereotyping going on towards black people all over the world. But guess what? There's less than 0.000001% of black people dying through racism than there is dying from starvation but I don't see protests about that ever. I don't see people changing their profile pictures black and burning down buildings because almost over half a billion black people haven't got enough food to survive and endure the worst possible lives imaginable.

Pick and choose, that's what people do. Band wagon. If you really thought black lives mattered, you'd have said something before today about the the massive issue in the world towards black people. You didn't though did you? It's called being a hypocrite!

@BlackBucketOfCheese I'm sorry for that have you got a bucket?
Oh you have.

@caringcarer

I’m a white American woman living in the US. I have a few things to say.

This is not a problem with “one man”. Black people and black men in particular are treated in a completely different manner in our country by the police. It’s not all police, but it’s enough that I’d be terrified to raise a black son here. Saying “one man” indicates you just don’t know what’s really been happening in this country, since it’s inception. The info is out there if you truly want to really understand.

Many of the people looting and causing much of the mayhem are white. Specifically, young white males who enjoy the privilege of being white and having parents that can get them out of trouble. Look closely at the images. They are not protestors, they are opportunists whose brains are still not fully formed.

Protests in many places you aren’t seeing in the news have been peaceful and diverse. It’s not just black people saying we have a race problem here, it’s anyone with eyes open. Look up videos from Lexington KY if you want to see a different side, a pure protest minus the agitators and looters.

Lastly, no one has ever questioned that white lives matter here in the US. It’s obvious by the way people are treated so it really just doesn’t need to be said. Good example is Elizabeth Smart’s kidnapping. The whole world knew her name. You know how many little black girls have been kidnapped and never even made more than their local news?

Black Lives Matter. Period.

I don’t want to live in a society where sociopaths routinely get away with killing people because of their race.

To everyone else I’m sorry for getting on my soapbox in a conversation where it’s not my own experience that needs to be understood. Just hoping one white lady might be able to sort out another.

Yappity, what fragility is also a massive problem. HTH

Yes. You might like to to read up on white fragility...

@YappityYapYap

White privilege was originally an academic term not meant to be used outside of academia because of the difficulty people have understanding it.

It doesn’t mean a person is privileged in every way. It just means they have the privileges that come along with being white. And they don’t experience the disadvantages of being black.

Example: I went to pick up something at a friend’s house. I took along a black friend.

It’s in a wealthy, all white neighborhood. We got there and got out of the car and I said “come on!” My friend said “where are we going? Not to the front door?!”

I said “No, she’s not home. I have the garage code.”

My friend said “you’re going to get me shot!” She didn’t really mean shot, but was making a valid point with hyperbole.

So at this point I realize that it would never cross my mind to even consider this as a white woman. And I know that town, that neighborhood and she was absolutely right that someone seeing her waking around to the back of the house and going in without the owner home would be very likely to call the police. And in my own privilege I also knew that she wasn’t going to have any issues, because I was there.

Being white in the US is just one of many possible privileges. It absolutely is easier to be white here than any other race. Others are education, wealth, sane parents. White privilege is not something to be offended by when you hear it; but we do have to recognize the truth of it.

Try telling a white person who was abused their whole childhood, vulnerable and then abused as an adult that they have white privilege!

In this context privilege isn’t about living a nice life, never facing trauma or abuse. It’s that in any given context a white person will have a very different experience of life than people of colour. The opportunities open to them, the services and supports available, the level of empathy afforded them will be different because culturally, societally and individually they hold a different place in society because of the colour of their skin.

In terms of vulnerability and abuse black families are disproportionately represented in child protection proceedings, they are more likely to have their children placed on the child protection register or have their children removed and for less serious concerns - which represents a significant trauma in and if itself. They are less likely to receive family support services, underrepresented in mental health services and trauma recovery services.

White privilege says that your white person who was vulnerable and abused still has more opportunity to receive help and support than a person of colour in the same situation.

They will see positive role models, receive affirmation of their own worth in society, have a sense of history and belonging - their place in the world is validated culturally, in society and in arts and literature which means that as they deal with the adversities faced in childhood, they don’t also face the challenges inherent in finding value in a racial identity which is constantly devalued in wider society.

Of course there will be individual circumstances which differ but across the board white people in the U.K. are inherently advantaged compared to people of colour.