BLM has many fundamental issues which have been listed many other places, so I'll avoid even the most obvious to get to the heart of this post.
On Sept. 10, 2017, Kenneka Jenkins attended a hotel party with friends, became very intoxicated and was left alone to her own devices, despite having close friends with her. Subsequently, she wandered into a walk in freezer, in the dark and was locked in. She died from hypothermia. This story got so much media attention, it was headlined for weeks. There were protests at the hotel and many conspiracy theories got air play, including the urban legend of organ theft that exists in the black community (the theory that whites steal organs from blacks when they need transplants).
On April 25 of the same year, Semaj Crosby was reported missing by her family. She was later found dead inside a couch of the same home. CPS had visited the family the same day she went missing and no actions were taken despite the level of filth and lack of housekeeping. There was very little national news or protests. She was fifteen months old at the time of her death.
We are expected to care so much when an armed criminal is shot and killed by police, sometimes during the commission of a crime when we can find so many cases exactly that of little Semaj.
Another telling example of why whites are offended by this movement is the case of Jazmine Barnes. She is the little girl in Texas who was believed to have been killed by a white man when the case first broke. The media, celebrities, and activists all had something to say about the state of America. The minute it was discovered to have been a black man, the story vanished from the media and went to radio silence. There was no statements of perhaps we need to re-think our stance of how racist white people are or we need to really dig into the crime issue in the black community before another child dies.
There is no "white community" to address. To the majority of white people, their community is the people they live or work with, regardless of race. There are a very small percentage of people who are racist who prefer to think in those terms, but they are a small minority. We are left reading and viewing these stories as people who do not judge others based on the color of their skin. We are horrified by the deaths of Semaj and Jazmine and wonder how on earth this is where we find ourselves in the United States.
Many people who happen to be white care deeply, but hesitate to get involved because we are frequently told we are racist and have white privilege. The thought of entering into a volunteer organization with our skill set is a terrifying prospect since we could be seen as asserting white privilege prevents us from even trying. Black lives matter to us, all black lives, but until the media stops rushing to racial judgement and racist celebrities and activists stop making baseless accusations and wanting more than anything for racism to be real, not much is likely to change.
It's only natural when hearing normal black lives matter rhetoric to have a desire well up that wants to ask," Why don't all black lives, especially those of children matter to you?"
On Sept. 10, 2017, Kenneka Jenkins attended a hotel party with friends, became very intoxicated and was left alone to her own devices, despite having close friends with her. Subsequently, she wandered into a walk in freezer, in the dark and was locked in. She died from hypothermia. This story got so much media attention, it was headlined for weeks. There were protests at the hotel and many conspiracy theories got air play, including the urban legend of organ theft that exists in the black community (the theory that whites steal organs from blacks when they need transplants).
On April 25 of the same year, Semaj Crosby was reported missing by her family. She was later found dead inside a couch of the same home. CPS had visited the family the same day she went missing and no actions were taken despite the level of filth and lack of housekeeping. There was very little national news or protests. She was fifteen months old at the time of her death.
We are expected to care so much when an armed criminal is shot and killed by police, sometimes during the commission of a crime when we can find so many cases exactly that of little Semaj.
Another telling example of why whites are offended by this movement is the case of Jazmine Barnes. She is the little girl in Texas who was believed to have been killed by a white man when the case first broke. The media, celebrities, and activists all had something to say about the state of America. The minute it was discovered to have been a black man, the story vanished from the media and went to radio silence. There was no statements of perhaps we need to re-think our stance of how racist white people are or we need to really dig into the crime issue in the black community before another child dies. There is no "white community" to address. To the majority of white people, their community is the people they live or work with, regardless of race. There are a very small percentage of people who are racist who prefer to think in those terms, but they are a small minority. We are left reading and viewing these stories as people who do not judge others based on the color of their skin. We are horrified by the deaths of Semaj and Jazmine and wonder how on earth this is where we find ourselves in the United States.
Many people who happen to be white care deeply, but hesitate to get involved because we are frequently told we are racist and have white privilege. The thought of entering into a volunteer organization with our skill set is a terrifying prospect since we could be seen as asserting white privilege prevents us from even trying. Black lives matter to us, all black lives, but until the media stops rushing to racial judgement and racist celebrities and activists stop making baseless accusations and wanting more than anything for racism to be real, not much is likely to change.
It's only natural when hearing normal black lives matter rhetoric to have a desire well up that wants to ask," Why don't all black lives, especially those of children matter to you?"
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