Why Don't ALL Lives Matter?

I believe they do.

For me that includes all animals, plants, fungi and other forms of life and the environment on which we depend.

Within that general principle, where there are dilemmas over competing interests, I try to figure what works best on balance. I know of no easy solutions to these kinds of problems.

In Australia, cane toads are an introduced pest which threatens extinction to many native species because it is lethal when eaten. So I kill those that I encounter with one instantaneous blow. I wish our CSIRO would invent an STD for them which would have the effect of producing sterility.

Why is it not a great name? Some black people feel that black lives don't matter to the world because they have been treated like they don't matter at all. It's a great name because it gets the point across how they feel.and they deserve to have respect like all people and if we don't listen to their pain then it is disrespectful to their feelings I think.

Maybe you could start a branch in your country.

Nevan

It has a lot to do with agenda. If they believe racism as a widespread phenomenon from one group over another they get defensive. Especially the people spewing slavery narrative. If you look at history we were all slaves and each race was dealt with horrible situations at some point. The celtic Gauls people were nearly wiped off the face of the earth because they were feared for their awesome hunting skills. What the other side do do? Starved them to death in their own city. All that's left of their culture is ruins and a few tablets. Many stories much like this one (although not due to racism but hopefully you get the point) but yet we still apply the racism trait to everything.

Well, we're not talking about Celtic Gauls, are we? We're talking about America, which was founded and thrived by using black people as slaves in its infancy, and continued to try to keep black people from joining fully with the rest of (white) society for many years after. Yes, slavery is over, but let's not pretend that the aftereffects have just magically disappeared after only a few generations.

It is not logical to infer from the title, Black Lives Matter, that its members necessarily believe that non-Black lives don't matter.

It is a mistake to assume reverse racism is the attitude of an activist for a particular race.

How many whites and other non-blacks are actively campaigning for equal treatment of blacks by the law?

Who stands up for victims if they don't stand up for themselves?

Where are the Good Samaritans?

I looked up the American statistics and found the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting Program(UCR) - Supplementary Homicide Reports.

Whites = 62% of the U.S. population but 49% of those killed by police.

Blacks = 13% of the U.S. population but 24% of those killed by police.

That means black Americans are 2.5 times more likely than white Americans to be shot and killed by police officers.

Breakdowns of the statistics also show that blacks and Hispanics are more likely to be shot when unarmed and non-threatening than whites.

Further breakdowns show that the victims are also much more likely to be male, young adult, in a dense urban area, and of poor socio-economic background.

In addition, blacks are more likely than whites to be stopped and harassed and wounded without cause or provocation.

Other statistics show that blacks are 10% more likely to be convicted in court cases and that the sentences for the crimes are likely to be  2 - 3 years longer.

These statistics strongly indicate that blacks are treated unfairly. When I looked up the history of white treatment of blacks and other non-whites in America, I found that this disproportionate rate of injustice has been consistent over the generations. The frequency and intensity of crimes against blacks does vary, seeming to rise during periods of economic stress - but overall, the tendency to unequal treatment of whites and non-whites remains the same.

Since no whites are banding together to campaign against the behaviour of other whites, it falls to the victims to protest and find ways to try to attain justice and defend themselves.

There is also something profoundly psychologically healthy happening when a victim stands up and says,"Enough! This must stop!"

We are all human. And there is no reason why we should not see our black brothers and sisters as kin to ourselves. Why are whites not part of the campaigns?

For the record, this problem occurs in Australia too, and as a white, I join the campaigns against racism.

That's actually a good point. If one could solve the problem of all unjustified police harassment, brutality and murders, that would simultaneously solve the problem of racial inequality of treatment.

Despite the fact the non-whites are 2.5 times more victimized, the police need much better training in how to observe first and not to be so reactive.

Are their prejudices and attitudes tested before they sign up?

Do too many have PTSD? Are they overworked? Do their shifts play havoc with their sleep and metabolisms?

Do they have mandatory regular psychological evaluations?

Are they tested for drugs like alcohol, speed or ice?

Is their training sufficient for the jobs they must do?

Where is grilledcheezegirl/BABBS?

A while ago in the blogs, she posted one of the best videos on the subject of racism I've ever seen.

It was delivered by a black psychologist who had made racism the subject of her PhD.

What she said about the cognitive dissonance in racists was important.

I so wish I had written down the web-address for the post.

Aaargh! I fell so frustrated with myself!

I remember that blog entry. Unfortunately the video link inside that blog entry is broken now. It was worth watching as the blog entry was worth reading.

*like*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH7tpAK8APY  ???

There's a couple of other videos on Youtube under a "Dr. Joy DeGruy" search.  So if this isn't the right one, you can probably find the one you were looking for. 

*like*

they should

The video took an hour and a half to watch - well worth the time.

Thank you so much, Charface.

I've copied the link to my references so I can spread the word around.

I've ordered her book, "Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing", Joy DeGruy Leary. Uptone Press (2005). ISBN 978-0963401120

DeGruy-Leary is quite slow getting started on her theme. She builds the evidence carefully, uses sound logic, documented history, developmental psychology, illustrates with personal experience and is a brilliant speaker - easily as good as, perhaps even better than Martin Luther King.

I believe everyone should see it at least once.

Rpf not really the definition of "all lives matter" is speaking to all people not JUST in America so your comment is irrelevant. It still doesn't change the fact that all races have been slaves. You don't like it tough. Technically I come from a Pagan background but my family is really diverse. I could hate Christians for the burning of witches and Catholics for the Inquisition. All bad history is relevant and we are all victims. However even though I do hold resentment for witch burnings and the killing of cats and cat owners throughout history I can't logically hate them because not all Christians are the same but many are biased.

We all have something to hate but sometimes we can't hold onto the past.

By the way there's still witch hunts to this very day in Africa. A child got a nail driven through his skull. So yeah. I still refuse to hate and let those feelings of resentment get to me. Not everyone is the same and all history was written by bad people who want you to see how they saw things.

I am focusing on the real issue that it doesn't matter what race, all people need to be treated with respect.

What? That is kind of offensive to many of us who have answered your question!  I made an attempt to answer your question.

SapphicHeart, you tried to use Children's Righrs and UNICEF as examples to show that saying Black Lives Matter isn't excluding other races.

However, nowhere within Chiildren's Rights or UNICEF could I find ANY mention of race. Both organizations help children of ALL races They aren't called Black Children's Rights or UNIBCEF. Can you imagine the uproar it would cause if it was called UNICCEF (Caucasian Children).

So I believe when specifying a race, you're excluding any and ALL others.

And I'm not talking about comparing kitty cats or puppies.

First of all I was responding to the question of the OP. They included "Of COURSE black lives matter...but why don't the lives of whites, Asians, Semites, Amerinds, kids, etc. matter?" Among others in their elaboration to the heading.

That said, mentioning black lives matters, will not exclude any other lives from mattering too as per definition. It doesn't say black lives only. It merely suggest that black lives matters. Don't you agree that black lives matters too, or is it only all the other lives than black lives that matters?

I find it strange how hard analysing a sentence seems to be to people.

I appreciate your explaining what you were replying to, but I was already aware of that fact. And while I appreciate your taking the time to repeat the description almost in its entirety, I had already read the description prior to responding to this question. Now that that's out of the way, the subject being discussed has brought up passionate opinions on both sides merely due to the name, BLM, because it leaves a lot to interpretation. One can say it's obvious what it means and others believe it says the complete opposite. While it doesn't come out and declare that BLM more, it can be construed that way by mere omission. So it shouldn't come as any surprise that people could come to that conclusion. What is surprising though is that you believe your ability to analyze is far superior to all those that happen to disagree with you.

Oh, by the way,  were you planning on commenting on my post questioning your comparison of  Children's Rights and UNISEF to the BLM movement.

It's with intention that I omit answering the question in your second paragraph. Otherwise you just might exercise your superior anal yzing skills to come up with the wrong answer.

Then we're in foursquare agreement.