The Problem with Saying #AllLivesMatter

4. The Problem With the System

When prompted on the issue of #AllLivesMatter vs #BlackLivesMatter, Lea DeLaria, the actress who kills it as Boo on Orange Is the New Black, said basic misinformation in the American society was to blame. “Black Lives Matter doesn’t mean that all lives don’t matter,” the actress said, adding, “What it means is that black lives matter do as well. And we live in a society that unfortunately teaches people — and usually it is the people that are hashtagging #AllLivesMatter — that black lives are less important than theirs. And anybody that lives in America and thinks that that isn’t taught is a f—king idiot and surrounded by an information-proof shield and is probably a racist.”

5. The implicit ‘too’ of #BlackLivesMatter

A little over a year ago, someone submitted the following question to reddit’s Explain it Like I’m 5 subreddit: “Why is it so controversial when someone says ‘All Lives Matter’ instead of ‘Black Lives Matter’?” User GeekAesthete responded with a wonderful 5-paragraph response that argues that the #BlackLivesMatter movement has an implicit “too” on the end of it, as though to say, “Black lives matter, too.” In that context, the movement points to a societal notion that black lives don’t hold the same value as white lives. He explains it much better than I just did. Seriously, read it … and then come back for the next slide!

6. Don’t critique. Listen.

A popular critique of the #BlackLivesMatter movement is the notion that the Black Lives Matter movement is divisive. As it was put to one Unitarian minister, “How will this nation of ours ever join together if we are constantly looking at everyone by their race?” Of course, the minister responded with several thoughtful paragraphs, but he concluded by saying, “I very much appreciate you writing to me, and am glad that we share the goal of coming to a day when people will not be judged, consciously or unconsciously, on the basis of their race … That work begins by listening to one another, and listening especially to the voices of those who have the least power in society. If nothing else is clear from the past few weeks, it is painfully evident that a great many people do not believe that they are treated fairly. Healing begins by listening to those voices and stories.”