If only it were true First an admission - I'm not on Facebook. Which most of the time I believe is a good thing. You see, my wife is on Facebook. Mostly it's to keep up with friends and family and see what they're up to.
But of course occasionally people in her feed post political items. And depending on the message it can send her over the edge. She has even responded, sometimes with my help, especially if she feels the statements being posted are based on ignorance or false premises.
Such was the case the other day. She was scrolling through her feed when she came across something one of her Facebook friends had posted. I purposely state "Facebook friend" because this person is definitely in the acquaintance category, not a close friend or someone we are in regular contact with. We are more like in friend of a friend of a friend territory here.
Anyway the post was forwarding a statement that read "If you put any color in front of the phrase 'Lives Matter', you are a racist". As is often the case with these posts the initial item is not the worst part. No, the worst part usually comes in the comments that follow.
My wife spared herself looking through the comments. She muttered something about 'needing to stay off Facebook' and got out of the app.
Obviously the post was a criticism directed at Black Lives Matter, and likely at those marching and protesting across the country for racial and social equality. It is a corollary to those who use "All Lives Matter" as a rejoinder, and nothing beyond that.
This did get me thinking however as to the mindset behind such posts. If I was on Facebook and inclined to respond to that post it would be something like what follows:
"I have to disagree. It would be wonderful if we lived in a country where we truly practiced 'Lives Matter', or 'All Lives Matter'. Unfortunately that is not the reality. It is not our current reality and in fact is contradicted by 400 years of American history. Instead our history too often has appeared to proclaim that 'Black Lives Don't Matter'.
First there was slavery. Yes, eventually it was abolished, but we were one of the last countries to do that and one of the few, if not the only one, that had to fight a bloody war to get rid of slavery.
This was followed by Jim Crow laws, the Ku Klux Klan, sharecropping, etc. New ways had been found to keep black people 'in their place'. Those Jim Crow laws didn't just prevent black people from voting, or mandate separate rest rooms and water fountains. Those laws restricted the jobs that blacks could hold, the types of businesses they could own. The laws were intended to keep the blacks in the South under white control in all respects. If the laws themselves didn't keep them in line there was intimidation and violence to do the job.
When large number of blacks migrated to the North to escape Jim Crow laws they were greeted with more subtle ways to deprive them of equality. Redlining and other practices were put in place. This restricted blacks to certain neighborhoods and also prevented them in large part from home ownership and the creation of equity and wealth. Even the GI Bill provisions that were instrumental in lifting so many returning American servicemen and their families to the middle class were largely unavailable to blacks, even those who had served, fought and bled fighting fascism.
When the civil rights movement began to chip away at all of this and provide voting rights and protections to blacks throughout the country, there was still push back. Next up was the War on Drugs. The goals of the program may have been admirable. But the implementation of the policy was done in a way to disproportionately hit black Americans. Even though drug use among blacks and whites is roughly equal on a percentage basis, black Americans are much more likely to be arrested for a drug offense, more likely to be prosecuted, more likely to receive jail time. And if a white person and a black person are both imprisoned for the same drug offense, on average the black person will receive a longer sentence.
The result is we incarcerate more people per capita than any other country. And again we have found a way to keep black Americans in their place.
Then of course there is the apprehension and deaths of blacks at the hands of authorities for what for you and me would be minor offenses and minor episodes in our day. If we are pulled over for a broken tail light our biggest worry is whether we get off with a warning, or will we get a ticket? For a black person they need to worry if they will end up dragged out of the car, searched, arrested, or worse.
So against this history, this backdrop, Black Lives Matter has risen. It is not to say 'Only Black Lives Matter', or 'Black Lives Matter More'. No rather it is a call to the founding of our country and the lofty ideals expressed in its cherished documents, to finally fulfill and extend that promise, and proclaim at long last 'Black Lives Matter Too'.
But of course occasionally people in her feed post political items. And depending on the message it can send her over the edge. She has even responded, sometimes with my help, especially if she feels the statements being posted are based on ignorance or false premises.
Such was the case the other day. She was scrolling through her feed when she came across something one of her Facebook friends had posted. I purposely state "Facebook friend" because this person is definitely in the acquaintance category, not a close friend or someone we are in regular contact with. We are more like in friend of a friend of a friend territory here.
Anyway the post was forwarding a statement that read "If you put any color in front of the phrase 'Lives Matter', you are a racist". As is often the case with these posts the initial item is not the worst part. No, the worst part usually comes in the comments that follow.
My wife spared herself looking through the comments. She muttered something about 'needing to stay off Facebook' and got out of the app.
Obviously the post was a criticism directed at Black Lives Matter, and likely at those marching and protesting across the country for racial and social equality. It is a corollary to those who use "All Lives Matter" as a rejoinder, and nothing beyond that.
This did get me thinking however as to the mindset behind such posts. If I was on Facebook and inclined to respond to that post it would be something like what follows:
"I have to disagree. It would be wonderful if we lived in a country where we truly practiced 'Lives Matter', or 'All Lives Matter'. Unfortunately that is not the reality. It is not our current reality and in fact is contradicted by 400 years of American history. Instead our history too often has appeared to proclaim that 'Black Lives Don't Matter'.
First there was slavery. Yes, eventually it was abolished, but we were one of the last countries to do that and one of the few, if not the only one, that had to fight a bloody war to get rid of slavery.
This was followed by Jim Crow laws, the Ku Klux Klan, sharecropping, etc. New ways had been found to keep black people 'in their place'. Those Jim Crow laws didn't just prevent black people from voting, or mandate separate rest rooms and water fountains. Those laws restricted the jobs that blacks could hold, the types of businesses they could own. The laws were intended to keep the blacks in the South under white control in all respects. If the laws themselves didn't keep them in line there was intimidation and violence to do the job.
When large number of blacks migrated to the North to escape Jim Crow laws they were greeted with more subtle ways to deprive them of equality. Redlining and other practices were put in place. This restricted blacks to certain neighborhoods and also prevented them in large part from home ownership and the creation of equity and wealth. Even the GI Bill provisions that were instrumental in lifting so many returning American servicemen and their families to the middle class were largely unavailable to blacks, even those who had served, fought and bled fighting fascism.
When the civil rights movement began to chip away at all of this and provide voting rights and protections to blacks throughout the country, there was still push back. Next up was the War on Drugs. The goals of the program may have been admirable. But the implementation of the policy was done in a way to disproportionately hit black Americans. Even though drug use among blacks and whites is roughly equal on a percentage basis, black Americans are much more likely to be arrested for a drug offense, more likely to be prosecuted, more likely to receive jail time. And if a white person and a black person are both imprisoned for the same drug offense, on average the black person will receive a longer sentence.
The result is we incarcerate more people per capita than any other country. And again we have found a way to keep black Americans in their place.
Then of course there is the apprehension and deaths of blacks at the hands of authorities for what for you and me would be minor offenses and minor episodes in our day. If we are pulled over for a broken tail light our biggest worry is whether we get off with a warning, or will we get a ticket? For a black person they need to worry if they will end up dragged out of the car, searched, arrested, or worse.
So against this history, this backdrop, Black Lives Matter has risen. It is not to say 'Only Black Lives Matter', or 'Black Lives Matter More'. No rather it is a call to the founding of our country and the lofty ideals expressed in its cherished documents, to finally fulfill and extend that promise, and proclaim at long last 'Black Lives Matter Too'.
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