But, Why Don't All Lives Matter? By Sumari Barnes

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, recently gained much attention for reprimanding his employees who continuously crossed out “Black Lives Matter” on the headquarters real life Facebook wall. On various occasions, even after being warned previously by other leaders, Facebook employees continuously to  crossed out “Black Lives Matter” and wrote “All Lives Matter” instead.

Zuckerberg expressed his disappointment in the “disrespectful behavior” on the first occurrence, but now his feelings have increased to enraged. The company’s wall is used for all kinds of expression; other things written include, “Happy Birthday Marcus!,” “I love my mom,” and “GOOD LUCK STANFORD.” Zuckerberg says that there has never been regulations as to what people can write on the wall because the staff typically has respectful intentions, however, the act of crossing out what someone believes is unacceptable.

He writes, “Regardless of the content or location, crossing out something means silencing speech, or that one person's speech is more important than another's." The issue of one person’s speech being more important than another’s, is similar to the greater issue the Black Lives Matter Movement is fighting against. Rather than the issue being the importance of one’s speech, the value of different lives is at stake.

So you may still ask, why is it “Black Lives Matter” and not “All Lives Matter”?  Zuckerberg begins to answer that question, "'Black lives matter' doesn't mean other lives don't. It's simply asking that the black community also achieves the justice they deserve.”

The Black Lives Matter Movement began in 2012 after George Zimmerman, murder of unarmed Black teenager Trayvon Martin, was acquitted of all charges despite the fact that he was talking to law enforcement before the murder who advised him to not bother Martin. The phrase Black Lives Matter has an implicit “too” on the end, “Black Lives Matter, too.” It is not saying that Black Lives are the only lives that matter, but it draws attention to the fact that in today’s society Black lives are the lives that have been taken for granted and devalued by many, especially law enforcement.

Saying “all lives matter” devalues the issue at stake with Black lives. It is evident that many other races lives matter because they are not being killed at disproportionate rates by cops that face no consequences. Statistics have found that Black males between the ages of 15 and 19 are 21 times more likely to be killed by police than white males in that age group; generally, all unarmed Black men are seven times more likely to be killed by police than unarmed white men, despite only being 6% of the population.

Just in case there is still confusion, no, Black lives do not matter more than white, brown or any other race, but they are equal. The lives of all Americans should be equal, but historically they have not been treated as such and Black Lives Matter is a current fight to gain that equality.