Posted on 03/24/2016 7:17:45 AM PDT by pabianice
As I was taking my morning commute to UMass on Tuesday, I turned onto South Pleasant Street to drive through town and saw a Black Lives Matter banner hanging proudly above passing traffic. I found myself unable to describe what it was that overwhelmed me about seeing this banner as I drove underneath it, but I felt myself tearing up at the sight of it.
For the rest of my drive, I thought about the significance of this and the things a lot of people I knew would criticize about it. Since its founding, the Black Lives Matter movement has been refuted with the idea that “All Lives Matter,” to which people like me have responded that while this is true, we live in a society where minorities have clearly not been treated equally.
I thought for a second that maybe the movement could be better revised to say “Black Lives Matter, Too,” to explain to refuters what I have argued continuously. But I immediately retracted that thought as it’s irrelevant to the controversy. The rationale behind my retraction was simple: Black lives and minority lives have been treated as an afterthought even in a supposed “post-racial” world.
Adding the word “too” to the group’s fight against institutional racism only self-appoints them as an “and” – an addition to the white population rather than a part of “All Lives” that their opposition claims matter. In an even simpler format, this movement is not, and will never be, about me. Who am I to think that the leaders of this movement should change their slogan just to accommodate the white oppressors they are fighting against in the first place?
In a more local light, I am proud. The banner I will now see every day on my drive is a signifier of a town that cares about the lives oppressed in America. I’m not a woman of color and I haven’t personally fallen victim of the oppressions minorities face on a daily basis, but I am overwhelmed with a sense of pride that the town I spend my time in is working to embody the same values that I have been aiming to instill in some of my family members and friends for months on end.
The Black Lives Matter movement is an organization I have supported since its establishment, and I have been increasingly discouraged trying to explain racial inequality as a white woman to another group of white individuals. By seeing this banner Tuesday morning, I recognized two main feelings.
The first of these feelings was pretty obvious: I am not even remotely close to understanding the injustices people of color face in America. I have no anecdotal evidence to provide to those who I talk to about racial issues and I will never experience the struggles people of color have just by being people of color.
I do, however, recognize my own privilege. I notice the privileges I have over my fellow community members of color and people I have interacted with my entire life. By harnessing this privilege, I hope I can channel it to fight white supremacy. I hope I can one day contribute to a change in society and raise a family that is not colorblind but instead sees past racial differences and prejudices to create a community of racial equality.
I might not be able to change someone’s mind today, but maybe I’ll learn how to approach people who are not willing to change their warped perception that Americans are all equal and work with them to not only change policies but to foster a newer society that listens more to the minority public about racial struggle than those who govern them and speak on their behalf.
The second feeling that overtook me that morning was more of a reinforcement that Amherst has taken a stand against racial inequality. I may know infinitely less than people of color, and this may be just a banner, but it is a banner that tells all that Amherst is not standing for the racism and discrimination that has plagued our country since its founding.
This town has announced that it is capable of fighting against prejudice, racial slurs, mass incarceration and all the acts of violence that people of color are susceptible to in America. Although this is only one small step that is a fraction of necessary change toward racial equality, I am proud to be a student in a community that embraces and takes concern in the lives of minorities.
Amherst is essentially the 1%.
Somebody needs to post the tiny violins...oh, and a YUGE barf alert...
“I know how hard it is to be black. I watched Good Times once”.
Whoever this Dunn guy is, he is an idiot...
Go hang that freaking sign in South Chicago....
My goodness. The red diaper rash of a self-absorbed liberal adolescent of scholarship-of-all-things-worthless!
I get better and more responsive thought, feeling and dialogue from my 7 year old grand daughter (the youngest of three).
Utter horseshit.
If there is one thing I could tell this person is that the world, particularly in real working America, color really doesn’t matter except those who want to put it as a chip on their shoulder.
By saying that, they mean that Whitey’s life doesn’t matter and that Whitey is racist and responsible for all the evils in the world.
That would be *white guilt* pounded into college and university students across this once great nation. Get a helmet and a set of 1965 World Book Encyclopedias.
Of course
Where else would we have been blessed with
EBONICS
RAPPERS
GANG VIOLENCE
KNOCKOUT GAME
FERGUSON
BALTIMORE
OBAMA
hey BLM...... GET A JOB, RAISE A FAMILY, OBEY THE LAW, GET EDUCATED.... the race card is worn out after almost half a century of WELFARE ETC......self pity ....pathetic
Roger that. I’m surprised the author was able to continue driving to their assigned location and function for the rest of the day. Shoulda just gone home and curled up in a ball in the corner. Then later in the day divest themselves of all their possessions so they’d feel better.
P.S. Thanks for the proper spelling of YUGE!
this person is so concerned about BLM, why doesn’t he/she/it try to attend a meeting?
I found myself personally unable to read this bullshiite. But I personally persevered through it and now I feel better.
After I barfed.
I just checked the demographics of Amherst MA...79% white...5% black...9% Asian...
Racial equality is really a huge concern in Amherst....
This lady should shoot herself in the face.
Black Lives Do Matter...
Interesting Stats!
Not racist!
Pure mathematics!
WHAT IF ALL BLACKS SUDDENLY LEFT AMERICA,
WHICH IS 13.3 OF THE TOTAL US POPULATION:
The prison population would go down by 37%
There would be 53% less gang members
Obesity percentage would drop 11%
Average IQ would go up 7.4 points putting us 3rd
in the world tied with Japan
Average Sat scores would go up almost 100 points
Average ACT scores would go up 5.5 points
AIDS & HIV would go down by 65%
Chlamydia cases would go down 54%
Gonorrhea would go down 69%
Syphilis would go down 58%
The average income for Americans would go up
over 20,000 dollars a year
Amount of people in poverty would drop 34%
Homelessness would go down 57%
Welfare recipients would go down by 42%
DEMOCRATS WOULD LOSE 76% OF THEIR VOTING BASE
And many criminal defense attorneys would have
to find another line of work!
Only Black Lives Matter, Fu** the rest of you!
I would add, STOP VOTING FOR DEMOCRATS.
THEY TOO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR STILL BEING ON THE FARM!
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