Why do they say Black lives matter? Don’t all lives matter? Well yes, of course. But in America, sometimes “all” doesn’t really mean all. Take the Constitution, for example. Obviously, “all” men didn’t have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness when those words were written. Or take the week of Aug. 24. 2020, in Kenosha, Wis. Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot seven times in the back by a police officer. During the protest that ensued, a 17-year-old white vigilante shot and killed two Black men. However, police not only failed to arrest him, they didn’t even stop to question him as he walked toward their armored vehicles with the rifle still strapped to his body. He was arrested later at his home, where officers placed him in their car and offered the man-boy some water. He was not subjected to a knee on his neck.
Hypocrisy requires the explicit declaration that Black lives matter. Their voices, fear, outrage and grief matter. It is time to stop debating Black versus all, and simply listen, care and participate in creating a country worthy of its Constitution.
Gina Zhdilkov, Bountiful