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Letter: Criticisms of the slogan Black Lives Matter show how important it is

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Ty Bellamy speaks during a vigil marking the one year anniversary of the death of George Floyd, at the Murals in Salt Lake City, onTuesday, May 25, 2021.

Black Lives Matter arose in response to the violence inflicted upon the black community. It is a statement of the obvious: Black Lives Matter. And there is the implied: So stop murdering us. The white community has long acted as if they don’t think Black Lives Matter. True to form, the response of much of the white community to BLM has been predictably negative, ranging from denial that racism exists, to the defensive, “All Lives Matter,” to claims that BLM is a terrorist organization. And that response is an abject rejection of the idea that white people make the lives of black people difficult and risky. So, it’s ironic that white rejection of the simple statement that Black Lives Matter so clearly illustrates the need for the white acceptance of that statement. Black Lives Matter.

Kendall Robins, Sandy

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