All Lives Matter

"All Lives Matter" is a dirty phrase. I've seen the memes, the rants, the videos, etc. about how only racists use this phrase to de-legitimize the struggles of minority lives. There's no possible way that anyone else other than a right-wing bigot can even think of saying this dirty phrase, right? Basically, saying "All Lives Matter" is like saying "Shut up you insignificant minority life your struggles aren't real stop trying to make people care about the needs of your race". Point blank. I'm right. The end!

Only it's not that simple. One thing that SJWs love to do is argue over the definition of words and phrases, trying to re-define them for a modern era that's more friendly to third wave feminism and "progressive" views. We see them do this with the dictionary definitions of "racism", "sexism", even "feminism" itself (and believe me, that topic will be covered in the near future), and then we see them do it with phrases like "All Lives Matter", persuading us to believe that doesn't mean what it literally says.

Now, I am fully aware that the right-wing loves to use this argument whenever issues of minority lives come up. And I will even agree that they abuse the phrase "All Lives Matter" whenever they are approached by Black Lives Matter personnel, because it's not a sound rebuttal. Just saying the phrase doesn't make the issue go away, and it's very clear that they're saying only to qualm the opposition; they don't actually believe that all lives matter, it's just a cop-out.

But, let's dissociate the phrase from who it's most commonly used by for just a minute. Taking away the context of rebuttal or squashing the opponent, "All Lives Matter" as a stand-alone phrase is not as racist or otherwise insensitive as you might believe. Literally, it is implying that, well, all lives carry value in equal measures. It is not saying that one group of lives is more important than another, and consequently, the struggles that they face. And this goes both ways: white struggles aren't more important than black struggles, but the opposite is also true. Here's something to keep in mind: we're all struggling here. Everyone currently living or that has lived before us has to endure the hardships that come with being human. We're all susceptible to the same diseases, we're all capable of the same behaviors, we're all being threatened by natural disasters and the earth's ever changing climates. Of course, the particulars of our struggles vary depending on location, socio-economic status etc. but saying that we have to prioritize the struggles of one specific subset of humanity over the others is not okay.

I say that like I believe the Black Lives Matter movement is trying to do that, don't I? Well...how am I wrong? I am sure that there are people within the movement that actually do want to improve race relations, that come from the perspective that black lives matter too. But far too often I witness black people engaging in violent acts against white people just because of their skin color (which is racist, btw), or I see protesters interrupting LGBTQIA parades in order to push BLM ideology. Those are just a couple of examples; you can obviously search the internet yourself to see these things unfold, but I will provide some of my own links down below as a starting point. Anyway, from where I'm standing, the whole premise of BLM seems to be predicated on completely overthrowing the "white male oppressive patriarchy" and getting revenge for every black person that has ever lived in America. I don't see these protestors being aware of the fact that black (and pretty much all minority) lives matter a hell of a lot more now than they did just fifty years ago. There's no more segregation in schools, bathrooms, busses, or other public places, minorities can vote, minorities can go to higher learning institutions (and receive scholarships/grants to aid them financially), minorities can become doctors, lawyers, engineers, scientists, professors, politicians, or have any other career of their choosing. That's not to say that it's easy to obtain those positions (it's not 'easy' for anyone, regardless of skin color), but it's not impossible either. Affirmative Action is in place to further help minorities attain jobs; the Equal Pay Act and Equal Rights Act have been federally enforced for decades now.

Now, I am in no way saying that racism doesn't exist, because it still very well does. Anyone who is maliciously targeted based solely on their skin color should stand up for themselves. But instead of automatically blaming white people for every struggle that minority groups face, why don't we take into account their own choices/actions before we point the finger, ok?

Anyway, my point here is that all lives do matter: White, Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Arab, Australian, religious, atheist, LGBTQIA etc. Whatever attributes you have, they're just as important as the person next to you. In the literal and truest sense of the phrase "All Lives Matter", we are all equal and deserve the same amount of respect. If you want to bring attention to an issue that minorities face (such as racial profiling, for example), that's fine, but you cannot make the assertion that it's more pressing of an issue than anything else, because like I said before, we're all here on one planet living life as one species. Either we're equal to each other, or we aren't.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT2e8RIcXNM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oCWfzxjftM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnaw4I_WUaE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5KMYSswTqQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ykglh2oxGWs
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3802230/War-zone-Charlotte-White-man-begs-mercy-beaten-reporter-nearly-dragged-fire-rioters-people-told-stay-home-work-police-shooting-black-father.html
http://theblacksphere.net/2017/02/black-lives-matter-leader-calls-white-people-subhuman-inferior/
http://www.dailywire.com/news/8577/men-chanting-black-lives-matter-beat-seven-white-james-barrett