Say it with me — Black lives matter, TOO.
Too often, those on the opposing side of the Black Lives Matter movement get confused about the message it’s sending. It doesn’t mean Black lives matter more than others. It doesn’t mean the Black lives are the only lives that matter… and it sure as hell doesn’t mean that people of color are looking for special treatment.
It simply means that the lives of colored people matter just as much as the lives of anyone else. To disagree with the movement would be to disagree with equality.
Let’s take it back to the 1800’s. In 1802, The Ohio Constitution prohibited free blacks from voting. In 1810, U.S. Congress prohibited Blacks from carrying mail for the U.S. Postal Service. In 1832, South Carolina banned the teaching of Blacks, enslaved or free, in its borders. Missouri joined in on the ban not long after in 1847.
Although these laws were overturned, those who felt passionately about them did not sit in silence. It’s easy now to look at the surface and make the ignorant claim that, “everyone in America is free.” However, the actions and opinions of countless citizens here proves that everyone is not, in fact, “free.”
Being white in this country is undoubedtly a privilege. Being anything else is, well, a disturbance — but only to whites.
When you are in an encounter with a police officer, you don’t have to wonder if they are racist or if they’ll take your life because your skin tone either intimidated or enraged them.
You aren’t incarcerated at a rate that’s six times higher than that of blacks.
Even when you don’t have a criminal record, you aren’t less likely to be considered for certain positions than Black men with felony convictions. It’s vice versa, actually.
You can make the argument that people of color have been violent in the past when expressing their beliefs. But you planted that rage in them, white America. YOU deprived them of fundamental rights. The right to an education, the right to vote, the right to work, and even the right to live freely.
It took quite some time to gain these freedoms back and people of color will not sit around and let history repeat itself while select citizens of America openly display their racism — especially with a president in office who has a pattern of discriminating against Black people.
At the end of the day, white America, no one is trying to steal jobs from you. No one is trying to threaten you or compete with you. Your fellow citizens are only trying to enjoy the same privileges you get to enjoy. So next time you get angry about those advocating for black lives, remember the reason they need to do so and sit back and acknowledge your privilege that makes it unnecessary for you to fight for yours.
And if you sit in silence about issues of this sort, YOU are part of the problem.