Black Lives Matter!
I decided to take on a topic that is actual and of great importance in American society. If you have been around you probably have heard of Black Lives Matter movement. I am not going to talk about the movements itself but rather the roots of the racial issues, in particular of African American people. This topic is very sensitive, so let me be clear that I am not an academic or historian, I am just trying to share my opinion.
Some people, in response to "Black Lives Matter", have said "All Lives Matter". While in a broad context of words that might be true, those who say "All Lives Matter" in response to "Black Lives Matter" miss the point in the context of civil liberties. Simply put, thought the history of American history lives of black people where not treated in the same others were. Black people didn't come voluntarily to America, we all know what happened. That probably was the greatest crimes in the history of humankind done to group of peoples. Human dignities were violate at unbelievable levels.
Today, we might think, it is all history; things are better now, racial problems are gone. Are they really? or the human dignities being violated in a different form?
To look at the historical context, let's go back to the early days of United States. Yes, crimes started before the establishment of the United States of America. After the revolution and gaining the independence Founding Fathers had a great opportunity to right the wrong. They all knew slavery was a big problems and had to be dealt with. However, economic impact that would have to the United States, made it hard to deal with. So, what did they do? Just like with any big issue, they kicked the can down the road, to let the those who follow deal with it. Lack of courage and ability to deal with the issue and abolish the slavery and give civil liberties to all right then and there lead us to the civil war.
Finally, courages men in the leadership of Abraham Lincoln, abolished slavery with emancipation proclamation. In my opinion, civil was could have been avoided, had the founder fathers dealt with the problem at the right time. Lincoln had to pay with his life. Civil war ended, slavery ended. Now what? Is everything beautiful. Of course not. Discrimination continues for another century. First of all black people already in economic disadvantage in the society, now on top of that there was no equal access to participate in the economy, society, education, academia, and all other aspects of life.
Finally, 1960s arrive, and we get more courages people like Dr Martin Luther King, president J.F.Kennedy, Malcolm X, etc who decided it was time to take on the problem. Masses followed, resistance was great, but they overcame and powerful civil right movement broke the shackles once again and paved the road for equality for all. Why did we have to wait for another century for this to happen? Same reason, they keep kicking the can down the road. Leaders such as MLK, JFK, Malcom X and many more paid with their lives for the cause. All other minorities should be grateful for African American community; if it weren't for them, for what they went through, would we really have civil liberties would US really be the land of the free? Another thought what if JFK, MLK and other survived and were not assassinated, how would the society be like today? Maybe we can explore this in an another article.
Throughout all of this ordeal majority of people of all ethnicities and colors knew the problem, they wanted things to be different, we just didn't have courages leader who would speak up the truth and demand freedom and justice for all. Even today, there are so many societal issue that great deal of people would like resolved, but if only we had leaders who speak up the truth and lead the way for better future for all.
In conclusion, black communities were put in great disadvantage throughout the history of United States while other communities accumulated wealth and kept passing on to their descendants. Still today, racial discriminations exist in various forms and shapes. And that is why I say "Black Lives Matter". Once you truly understand this then maybe then you can say also say "All Lives Matter". If I was mistaken and said anything wrong, please forgive me, this post wasn't meant to be offensive to anybody, just encouraging awareness and kindness to all. After all, we all belong to human race.
I won't detract from your point of view by bringing historical accuracy into the argument, but I will make the following observation: All races and ethnicities have been enslaved by other races and ethnicities in the pursuit of tribal conquest and empire. To magnify one races struggle over another creates resentment and guilt in the remainder of society because older generations will usually pass on the heritage of their ancestors to the younger generation. This will include the history of their own respective triumphs and oppression. I won't comment on the BLM movement, nor the veracity of modern racism, but I will close stating that the futures of any race or ethnicity is not determined by outside forces, but by inner cultural strengths passed on by previous generations and the collective will of the new generations to preserve their culture and ethnicity. No one chooses their genetic biology so to shame one group or promote another due to historical oppression is a sociological folly with consequences for the current and future generations, similar in form to inherited financial debts.
Thank you for you comment. One thing I disagree is when you say "to magnify one races struggle over another creates resentment and guilt", I think it rather drives compassion and gratitude. In knowing the history, we don't let wrongs repeat and build better societies, celebrate our differences, stand up for each other, and grow as humans.
Dealing with these issues is definitely tricky because discourse is hard... we're putting a huge amount of people into a collective of individuals that is diverse. I appreciate the fact that you didn't attempt to impugn my character for a divergent opinion, so giving you an upvote for your tolerance.
Just make one thing clear, I am not black. It doesn't really matter if I was either. I don't beleive in racial identifications. Bottomline we all are same and different. I celebrate differences. That's what makes this world so colorful and meaningful. I wrote that post because I was moved by recent events.