Yes, White friends, agreed: ALL lives do matter. However, because of White America’s historical and persistent racism, precious Black lives have been targeted and extinguished for centuries with impunity. ‘Color-blindness’ has been invoked in an attempt to erase the facts, extent, and consequences of racially-based harm. That is why we demand and cry out in this vale of tears, BLACK LIVES MATTER!
In 2012, Trayvon Martin was killed by a vigilante white security officer in front of his affluent home while carrying a bag of Skittles candy. President Obama said Trayvon could have been his son. In response to this senseless racist murder, #BlackLivesMatter was started by three Black women: Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi, to fight for justice and expose to the world the deep-seated hate for Black people. How many White boys are killed by Black or White citizen vigilante security officers while walking home from the store? Trayvon Martin’s death is not the general “white lived experience” for White men and boys in America. However, the pervasive killing of Black men, boys, and women by White security enforcement is the traumatic lived experience for Blacks in America.
As a nation, we must accept that precious Black lives have been snuffed out with reckless cruelty, sometimes showing no sign of abatement. There is a deep debt of humanity and justice owed to Black Americans, and that is our central focus when we demand loudly that BLACK LIVES MATTER!