The Black Lives Matter movement is not the first of its kind, and it probably won’t be the last. It stands for educating America and all nations around the globe that black lives have always and always will matter. The movement has not been, nor will it ever become a beacon of hate. It exists because the people behind the movement understand that yes, all lives do indeed matter, but black lives have for centuries been the ones being taken in droves. This is not to say that the lives of other races have not also been taken, but black people cannot put theirs before ours– and we wouldn’t ask that of them.
However, it seems that non-black people of color have no problem with asking that of black people. When there’s a death in our community, instead of standing with us you form arguments against us. We are called selfish and arrogant for standing up for our own and you deny that we have ever stood up for you and yours. Black people have rallied behind almost every race, given the opportunity despite anti-blackness meeting us at every turn. Recently when Dylan Noble was gunned down due to police brutality, it was #BlackLivesMatter activists who spoke out first. It didn’t matter that he was white, because police brutality affects us all– it affects black people more, but it eventually affects us all.
The entire movement is all about solidarity. We stand with you regardless of whether or not you stand with us, and you usually do not stand with us. Give us your lists, your names, your troubles and we will help you fight; but do not rely on us to bring your problems to the forefront if we cannot ask the same of you.
Trevor Noah put it best when he said that with movements like #BlackLivesMatter you’re assumed to be either anti-black or anti-white when in reality you can be pro-black and pro-everybody else. In fact, it makes sense that most people would flock to such a binary opposition considering that’s what white supremacy is; pro-white and anti-everyone else. The idea that in order to be in support of one thing you must be in total disagreement with the other has spread to all aspects of our lives. The act of being pro-black does not mean that black people don’t care about the hardships that Arabs go through, or the trials that Chinese-Americans face. Tweeting #BlackLivesMatter does not mean that you think that they’re the only ones that matter, but that you understand that currently, black lives are the ones that are being talked about and taken simultaneously.
When you interrupt our process with questions like, “Where were black people when (insert traumatic racial event here) happened” you make it less likely for us to want to help you! By removing the attention away from our fallen you prove to us that you want us to care about your lives but that you’d gladly forget about ours. The support was still there, you just never asked for it. No one expects non-black people of color to always be up to date with what’s happening in our community so we tell you. If you want our help at a time that does not interfere with our work for our people, then ask for it. We are here for your movements but we will not push ours aside to make time for yours.
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