Difference between revisions of "Black Lives Matter"

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(Created page with "'''Black Lives Matter''' is a political movement created to protest the systemic racism of law enforcement against black people in the USA. ==Appropriating the Slogan== Criti...")
 
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'''Black Lives Matter''' is a political movement created to protest the systemic racism of law enforcement against black people in the USA.
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'''Black Lives Matter''' (BLM)is an international activist movement whose goal is the elimination of systemic racism against black people, especially in law enforcement. The movement has been responsible for hundreds if not thousands of protests all over the world. The slogan "black lives matter" became popular in 2013 after George Zimmerman was acquitted after murdering black teenager Trayvon Martin. Although I don't agree with every form of protest done in the name of the BLM movement, I completely agree with their cause and the majority of their protests. There is a very real problem with law enforcement killing unarmed black people and avoiding punishment.
  
 
==Appropriating the Slogan==
 
==Appropriating the Slogan==
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Critics of the phrase "black lives matter," especially those who appropriated it to "all lives matter," often claim that the slogan "black lives matter" implies that black lives matter more than white lives. These are often the same people who wonder why there isn't a "white history month." The phrase "black lives matter" was used because it's far more pithy than, "stop the systemic racism of law enforcement against black people." Of course, even if that phrase were used, critics would appropriate it to "stop the systemic racism of law enforcement against -all- people!"
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Critics of the phrase "black lives matter" have appropriated it into a number of alternate phrases like "[[all lives matter]]," "[[blue lives matter]]," and various others. These are often [[dog-whistle politics|dog whistles]] for racism, or sometimes, like in the case of "[[white lives matter]]," straight up racist.
  
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What the critics don't understand is that it's beneficial to  
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==Criticisms==
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It is possible, in fact, necessary, to point out problems in society in order to fix them. If Main Street is being neglected and littered with potholes, saying "fix all roads" doesn't directly address the problem like saying, "fix Main Street." Likewise, saying "fix Main Street" doesn't imply that it's more important than other less damaged roads, it just means you've identified a problem and want it fixed.
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I usually find the criticisms of BLM to be a combination of ignorance and racism, but there are occasionally some good points to be made.
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Probably the most common criticism is with the slogan "black lives matter" itself, specifically that it only focuses on black lives. Critics will say, what about Native Americans, what about Jews, what about women, etc. However, [[whataboutism]] is not a valid criticism on any issue. Just because someone focuses on a single problem doesn't mean that other issues are also problems that need to be addressed. This is like criticizing an oncologist for only treating cancer when people are still dying of heart disease.
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A second common criticism is about the manner of protest used by BLM, which sometimes includes disruptive behavior like forming crowds around areas of heavy traffic or visible areas like major roads and capital buildings.
  
 
==Links==
 
==Links==

Revision as of 11:20, 5 September 2018

Black Lives Matter (BLM)is an international activist movement whose goal is the elimination of systemic racism against black people, especially in law enforcement. The movement has been responsible for hundreds if not thousands of protests all over the world. The slogan "black lives matter" became popular in 2013 after George Zimmerman was acquitted after murdering black teenager Trayvon Martin. Although I don't agree with every form of protest done in the name of the BLM movement, I completely agree with their cause and the majority of their protests. There is a very real problem with law enforcement killing unarmed black people and avoiding punishment.

Appropriating the Slogan

Critics of the phrase "black lives matter" have appropriated it into a number of alternate phrases like "all lives matter," "blue lives matter," and various others. These are often dog whistles for racism, or sometimes, like in the case of "white lives matter," straight up racist.

Criticisms

I usually find the criticisms of BLM to be a combination of ignorance and racism, but there are occasionally some good points to be made.

Probably the most common criticism is with the slogan "black lives matter" itself, specifically that it only focuses on black lives. Critics will say, what about Native Americans, what about Jews, what about women, etc. However, whataboutism is not a valid criticism on any issue. Just because someone focuses on a single problem doesn't mean that other issues are also problems that need to be addressed. This is like criticizing an oncologist for only treating cancer when people are still dying of heart disease.

A second common criticism is about the manner of protest used by BLM, which sometimes includes disruptive behavior like forming crowds around areas of heavy traffic or visible areas like major roads and capital buildings.

Links

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