Imagine going to the dentist to fix a cavity. The dentist begins by asking “Which tooth should I work on today?” However, because every tooth is important, you refuse to tell the dentist which tooth has the cavity. The dentist believes that you are wasting his time and not helping him solve the real problem. Those who support the Black Lives Matter movement feel the same way when others try to discredit the movement by saying “all lives matter.”
When people say Black Lives Matter, they are not saying the lives of African Americans are the only lives that matter. This movement simply stands for recognizing and creating a worldwide discussion about the injustices that some black people face on an everyday basis.
The Black Lives Matter movement began after George Zimmerman’s acquittal for the shooting of African American teenager Trayvon Martin. Since then, the movement became very popular on social media and in the news, sparking widespread protests and forums for black people to share their unpleasant encounters with the police. The movement wishes to create a world where police officers do not have predisposed prejudices and fears against people of color. Too many sworn officers continue to unjustly shoot and kill black men, but the movement has encouraged victims and bystanders to record these events for the world to see what is happening.
While the movement may only be a couple years old, the injustice is not. According to “The Guardian,” a daily British newspaper, (see below for link to article.) African American men between the ages of 15 and 34 made up 15 percent of all police induced deaths in 2015. That same demographic only makes up 2 percent of the entire American population. African American adolescents were 19 times more likely to be shot by a police officer than a Caucasian adolescent. These indisputable facts reveal that these problems have been around for a very long time. Thanks to organizations like Black Lives Matter, the world gets to recognize unjustifiable murders of African American citizens by seeing these events with their own eyes. It creates important discussions vital to stopping this injustice.
The Black Lives Matter movement does not stand for African American superiority. It only seeks equality in the justice system. The movement calls for people of all races to stand up and speak out against any unfair treatment of people of color by police officers. Saying “all lives matter” does not help fix the justice system. It only ignores the real issue at hand.
Black Lives Matter is a revolutionary movement that is encouraging change in America and opening eyes to the discrimination of African Americans and the innocent deaths that come as a result of it.
Link to article https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/31/the-counted-police-killings-2015-young-black-men
