Question:
What is so wrong with saying "All Lives Matter"?
anonymous
2020-09-23 21:25:18 UTC
Do many understand the definition of the word "all"? That includes black lives... especially when you say "all lives matter". Did you know that?
21 answers:
Todd
2020-09-26 15:31:14 UTC
All lives don't matter.  Rich ones do.  The rest of us are nobodies.  Sorry
Git
2020-09-24 17:46:29 UTC
There is nothing wrong with the term “all lives matters”.



What is wrong is the intention of the person who used the term in a way that deliberately belittle “black lives matter”.



Here, black people are being killed and they are trying to draw attention to this matter. By saying “all lives matters” under these circumstances, the person has the intention of disagreeing that black lives matter, and yet sound righteous.



Under other circumstances, saying all lives matters would be welcome. A discerning person would know the differences and the intention of the person who said it.
SBR32277
2020-09-24 12:21:49 UTC
Had the slogan been "Black Lives Matter Too", there wouldn't be a need to come back with "All Lives Matter". Without the "Too" it can be taken as racism in that "only Black Lives Matter" rather than hopefully their intended message of mattering too.
anonymous
2020-09-23 22:58:22 UTC
Say what you want.



And your KNOWLEDGE seeking question about religion or spirituality is what?
Paul
2020-09-23 21:39:17 UTC
There is nothing wrong with it, since is an expression of God's viewpoint.
?
2020-09-23 21:35:20 UTC
It’s kind of like if one kid in your class is always getting beaten up, and instead of saying stop hitting Kevin your teacher says stop hitting people. That’s fine, but the problem is that Kevin’s getting hit.
gillie
2020-09-23 21:32:04 UTC
Black lives won't matter until "liberty and justice for all" includes black people. Right now it doesn't.
anonymous
2020-09-23 21:30:48 UTC
There is nothing wrong with it
Horace
2020-09-23 21:29:32 UTC
People are bored with it now ,theres no money in it.
?
2020-09-23 21:27:58 UTC
Because that statement is usually made to contradict the claim that black lives in particular matter.
anonymous
2020-09-25 07:54:03 UTC
NOTHING AT ALL AS IT IS THE TRUTH ALM.
Joel
2020-09-24 23:17:54 UTC
Politically, a particular side is pushing the idea of overt PD discrimination for that particular segment of society so equality is the goal except regarding black people right now. Glad to clear up that obvious issue.
?
2020-09-24 05:38:55 UTC
All lives matter.



Stay with me for a second.



Black lives matter *because* all lives matter.



Brown lives matter *because* all lives matter.



Gay lives matter *because* all lives matter.



Trans lives matter *because* all lives matter.



Poor lives matter *because* all lives matter.



The only problem is, too often, our society is acting like these things are not the case.



So it is not reasonable to use "All lives matter" as a *counter* to "Black lives matter".  Because our society too often acts like the only lives that really matter are those of middle class to rich straight cis white people.  So if you say "All lives matter" without somehow clarifying that you acknowledge that we need to change how we treat the marginalized... you're being an a**hat.
No More
2020-09-24 03:41:13 UTC
Every life matters... unborn babies, women, men, children, black, white, etc...

I want to point out the fact that if people want others to remember their lives matter, they need to live their lives in ways that show they actually believe their lives are worthy... make good choices and do the right things. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs6YcaynF0c
Special EPhex
2020-09-24 02:49:54 UTC
It's not wrong, just not "politically correct", because it's dismissive of the BLM agenda to bring awareness to the plight of the black community.  Supporters of the movement believe there wouldn't be a need to say, "BLM", if it is believed "all lives actually do matter", in our society.  That's why many take offense to "ALM".  As a black person myself, I don't personally believe that way, but I can understand how others can.  



You're really just falling into the trap of playing the "PC" game, which is a way to manipulate us, by saying "ALM", and doesn't do much of anything to resolve societies problems.  Being baited into "picking sides" only plays into dividing us even more than we already are.  Everyone can use a self-evaluation and re-evaluation of how easily indoctrinated and programmed we are.  
anonymous
2020-09-23 23:00:10 UTC
A person can battle racism and other sins using the rosary and fasting.  Every person's life matters to Jesus until a person actually goes to hell to suffer eternal death.  Those in hell are not loved by God nor will they be ever again.
robin_lionheart
2020-09-23 22:39:33 UTC
An ELI5 post by /u/GeekAesthete explained it better than I would've:



Imagine that you're sitting down to dinner with your family, and while everyone else gets a serving of the meal, you don't get any. So you say "I should get my fair share." And as a direct response to this, your dad corrects you, saying, "everyone should get their fair share." Now, that's a wonderful sentiment -- indeed, everyone should, and that was kinda your point in the first place: that you should be a part of everyone, and you should get your fair share also. However, dad's smart-*** comment just dismissed you and didn't solve the problem that you still haven't gotten any! 



The problem is that the statement "I should get my fair share" had an implicit "too" at the end: "I should get my fair share, too, just like everyone else." But your dad's response treated your statement as though you meant "only I should get my fair share", which clearly was not your intention. As a result, his statement that "everyone should get their fair share," while true, only served to ignore the problem you were trying to point out.



That's the situation of the "black lives matter" movement. Culture, laws, the arts, religion, and everyone else repeatedly suggest that all lives should matter. Clearly, that message already abounds in our society.



The problem is that, in practice, the world doesn't work the way. You see the film Nightcrawler? You know the part where Renee Russo tells Jake Gyllenhal that she doesn't want footage of a black or latino person dying, she wants news stories about affluent white people being killed? That's not made up out of whole cloth -- there is a news bias toward stories that the majority of the audience (who are white) can identify with. So when a young black man gets killed (prior to the recent police shootings), it's generally not considered "news", while a middle-aged white woman being killed is treated as news. And to a large degree, that is accurate -- young black men are killed in significantly disproportionate numbers, which is why we don't treat it as anything new. But the result is that, societally, we don't pay as much attention to certain people's deaths as we do to others. So, currently, we don't treat all lives as though they matter equally.



Just like asking dad for your fair share, the phrase "black lives matter" also has an implicit "too" at the end: it's saying that black lives should also matter. But responding to this by saying "all lives matter" is willfully going back to ignoring the problem. It's a way of dismissing the statement by falsely suggesting that it means "only black lives matter," when that is obviously not the case. And so saying "all lives matter" as a direct response to "black lives matter" is essentially saying that we should just go back to ignoring the problem.



TL;DR: The phrase "Black lives matter" carries an implicit "too" at the end; it's saying that black lives should also matter. Saying "all lives matter" is dismissing the very problems that the phrase is trying to draw attention to.
Benoni "Light"
2020-09-23 22:36:48 UTC
Nothing. It's true. However if someone says "Black Lives Matter" and snidely you respond  "How dare you. All Lives Matter" you imply that  either there's an only in there somewhere ( Which there isn't) or that  black people aren't alive. We're adults here. We know  the difference between "Black Lives Matter" and "Only Black Lives Matter, others do not and black people are the best."  Put aside the willful ignorance.  If you don't support the organization, that's more than fine. I don't   fully support their views either but protesting systemic racism is something I can really get behind.
anonymous
2020-09-23 21:58:35 UTC
'When you say, "all lives matter," assuming the best intent on your part, you're probably trying to communicate a genuine personal belief that you value all human life equally. And that may even be true, but it also means you are failing to see the ways our society and systems show Black people that their lives, livelihoods, and well-being are not valued equally.' https://www.distractify.com/p/why-is-all-lives-matter-considered-racist



"We're not racist. The REAL racists are the people talking about racism." - Actual racists



The job of a policeman or woman is not more sacred than the humanity of a black person. Period. Police are not paid executioners, but when you advocate for their right to kill, that is what you are advocating for. Killing is not their job. Ask yourself why you’re ok with that. – Munroe Bergdorf



Robert Stephens, 26, Kansas City, MO 

"It was the last day of school, and I was walking with my dad, preparing to leave. Suddenly, he paused, looked at me intently and said, "Son, you're a black male, and that's two strikes against you." To the general public, anything that I did would be perceived as malicious and deserving of severe punishment and I had to govern myself accordingly. I was seven years old."



“Cultural racism—the cultural images and messages that affirm the assumed superiority of Whites and the assumed inferiority of people of color—is like smog in the air. Some days it is so thick it is visible, other times it is less apparent, but always, day in and day out, we are breathing it in.”  

― Beverly Daniel Tatum, "Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?": A Psychologist Explains the Development of Racial Identity
anonymous
2020-09-23 21:30:13 UTC
I'm done trying to educate you. You are deliberately ignorant.
Aaron
2020-09-23 21:26:35 UTC
Nothing. It's true. All live's do matter.


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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