The Controversies Surrounding BLM

 All Lives Matter is a slogan that has come to be associated with criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement, and has been considered a view of "racial dismissal, ignoring, and denial”. That's because it discounts and diminishes the focus on the violence and discrimination Black individuals face every day in this country.

"All Lives Matter" sounds like a we're-all-in-this-together statement. Some may be using the phrase to suggest that all races should join hands and stand together against racism, which is a sentiment that comes from a good place. But the problem is, the phrase actually takes the focus away from those who need it. Saying "All Lives Matter" redirects the attention from Black lives, who are the ones in danger.

It's a natural reaction to respond with, "But what about all lives?" or "Isn't my safety important, too?" But the truth is, Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by police violence and systematic racism in the nation. Their entire social structure centers around white people as a default. Asserting that "All Lives Matter" just reaffirm or ignores that reality. Of course every life is valuable, but not everyone's lives are in danger due to their skin color. Saying "Black Lives Matter" isn't equivalent to saying other lives don't, but rather that Black lives should matter as much as white lives.


In June, Instagram was filled with black squares, it's a powerful image, but one that has also drawn criticism and caution from those it is intended to support. It was supposed to be a way to commemorate lives lost and show support for the ongoing George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests.

As the symbolic show of support spread across Instagram people attached the #BlackLivesMatter or #blm hashtag to the blacked out images. The popularity of the online symbol quickly overwhelmed those two hashtags and made it challenging, for protesters and activists to use those hashtags to gather information about police actions and protest movements and share important resources. It was suggested that social media users who want to post a black screen and support the movement remove the hashtags #BLM and #BlackLivesMatter from their posts, which over the course of a few months proved very effective, and now anyone can search the hashtags to learn about the movement without having to go through millions of black squares




 

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