Danielle Mullins

Over the past few months the movement Black Lives Matter has been projected all across America. The passing of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd have pushed and made the movement come to light, but it has also started the argument that not only black lives matter but “all lives matter.”

 According to an article on cbsnews.com titled Pence on Black Lives Matter: “I really believe all lives matter,” Vice President Mike Pence defended his refusal to say “black lives matter” amid the surge of momentum for police reforms following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month, saying he disagrees with the political agenda being pushed by leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Some people deliberately state “all lives matter” to incite and mimic the people that support The Black Lives Matter movement. Others consider it to be an innocuous, even comprehensive comment. Yet, that isn’t the manner in which most Black individuals experience it. People have continued to show biased opinions and remarks when it comes to the statement “all lives matter.”

The Black Lives Matter development has ascended to noticeable quality in 2020, past anything it had encountered in the beginning of its reality. Some hear that announcement and counter with “all lives matter,” trusting it to be more comprehensive. In truth, all lives cannot matter until black lives matter. For anybody struggling getting why, they should look at the news or read the latest article of another black man getting shot for nothing.

All lives cannot matter until black lives matter, and I say this in certainty, people have not cared about all lives so why should all lives matter. According to cbsnews.com “black women’s lives definitely haven’t mattered, that black trans people’s lives haven’t mattered, that black gay people’s lives haven’t mattered… that immigrants’ lives don’t matter, that Muslims’ lives don’t matter. The Indigenous people of this country’s lives have never mattered. I mean, we could go on and on and on. So, when we say, ‘all lives,’ are we talking about White lives? And if so, then let’s just say that.”

White people believe they have to have a say when it comes to the saying Black Live Matter, but what they fail to realize is, quoting Lage “nobody is saying that your life doesn’t matter, we are saying all lives can’t matter until black lives matter.

Before the movement nobody had a say or felt the need to say all lives matter, it’s almost like they are doing it in a malicious way. Other races don’t realize black people go through the most racism. Even after being granted freedom, black people are still fighting for fair treatment and to be treated as the average American to this day.

Every time I hear someone say, “all lives matter,” I want them to look at and be reminded each time they see another unarmed Black individual shot as well as killed by a white cop or vigilantes over stuff as apparently insignificant as going to the convenient store. Ahmaud Arbery, killed for jogging while being black. Rayshard Brooks, killed for sleeping in car while black. Breonna Taylor, killed for sleeping in her apartment while black. In this case, all lives cannot matter until black lives matter.