Black and Blue America: A Bruised Nation

As a country of immigrants, some voluntary and others involuntary, there are many divides in the United States of America. Race is one of the biggest and deadliest; much of our history can be defined by how we as a nation have viewed race.

The origins of the Black Lives Matter movement may seem incomprehensible to any white person living behind the comfortable proverbial walls of suburban America. And its true that as white people its not our right or our job to attempt to understand what its like to be black in this country. We don't get to decide that. But we do get to decide how we listen to and how we choose to respond to the black community as they take a vocal stance against problems in this country intrinsic to the black experience. 

That is what the Black Lives Matter movement is all about. It is a protest against the wanton and uncharged police killings of unarmed black people in this country that have persisted for decades. The incident that sparked such a movement was the killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, MI in the summer of 2014. His crime? Jaywalking.

Of course, there will always be people in this country who will defend to the death the actions of a police officer no matter what those actions may be. Following the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media, a separate hashtag #BlueLivesMatter began to appear in response. Now when black people protest police killings in their own communities, they also have to contend with counter protests from people who want to reaffirm... what exactly? I guess they want to make sure the families who lost their loved ones to police brutality know that those cops are people too. Why is it negative for people to counter protest in this way?

Unlike #BlackLivesMatter, #BlueLivesMatter did not spring up from some unprecedented surge in police deaths. Rather, #BlueLivesMatter and other variants started appearing in response to the recent resurgence in the black liberation movement which has rallied behind the slogan 'Black Lives Matter' for well over a year now. Even the name is a parody of the protest movement. Why do these people feel the need to defend police officers at a time when high profile police killings of unarmed black people are becoming routine? Shouldn't we as a society condemn the unjust murder of our fellow citizens by the state?

There is a time and a place to pay tribute to police officers. The Boston police officers who displayed bravery in the wake of the 2013 Marathon bombings certainly deserve recognition. But the only purpose a hashtag like #BlueLivesMatter serves is to silence the voices of black people. When a group of people is consistently targeted by the police despite being unarmed, the response any American should have is to be outraged. 

The fact is, black lives already matter just in the basic fact that black people are human beings. A statement like 'Black Lives Matter' should not be controversial. When people say 'Blue Lives Matter' it is a justification of police brutality against black lives. It is okay to hold your community's police officers up to a moral code, it is okay to scrutinize and protest their actions. Being a good cop is something that takes dedication and hard work, because being a good cop is something that has to be learned. There is no training academy for being black in America. Black people should not have to justify their inherent humanity. Unfortunately, there will always be people who wish to deny them that.