It is a statement which has change into an vital way for folks to show their support for members of the black community who have experienced discrimination merely because of the color of their skin.
How did ‘Black Lives Matter’ begin?
‘Black Lives Matter’ has turn into an important assertion phrase for a lot of following the death of an African-American man called George Floyd, But it surely was first used widely back in 2013 after a teenage boy called Trayvon Martin was killed by a neighbourhood watch volunteer who did not face any punishment.
Lots of folks took part in protests following Trayvon’s death and plenty of turned to social media to speak out in opposition to what had happened. They felt upset concerning the injustice that was happening in America and that the lives of black individuals didn’t have the same worth as different people’s lives. This led to the delivery of the hashtag BlackLivesMatter.
Since then, as well as a phrase of assist, Black Lives Matter has grown into a campaigning organisation too.
“The movement of Black Lives Matter was established in response to the murder by police officers of black individuals within the USA in much higher numbers than white folks,” Ged Grebby told Newsround. He’s the chief executive of the charity Show Racism The Red Card. “It is a movement for equality and in opposition to racism.”
The police brutality that was taking place made black folks feel “their lives simply did not matter” says ex-footballer and honorary president of Show Racism The Red Card, Shaka Hislop.
Since the events of 2013, more incidents have taken place throughout America and other parts of the world which have led to growing calls for the protection of black lives.
The discrimination black folks face dates all of the way back to slavery and colonialism and many charities and campaign groups have been difficult racial inequality for years. Nonetheless, racism still affects many black folks today.
What in regards to the phrase ‘All Lives Matter’?
Some individuals have been using the phrase ‘All Lives Matter’ in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
On the surface, it appears to suggest that people should be united. Nevertheless, it is nonetheless viewed by many campaigners as a problematic statement. This is because it’s seen to take away from the essential points which are affecting black lives in a bad way, and which should be addressed.
“Nobody involved in the Black Lives Matter movement is saying that only black lives matter, or that each one lives don’t matter, or that white lives do not matter. The problem is that’s white lives have always seemed to matter more,” Shaka Hislop explained.
“What Black Lives Matter as a movement is saying is that each one these lives matter equally. Black lives must matter just as a lot as everybody else’s.”
This is a perception held by many other organisations working to hard to tackle racial discrimination including the charity Stand Up To Racism.
“The reason Stand Up To Racism and so many people are saying ‘Black Lives Matter’ right now’s because for a very very long time, black individuals in America, Britain and plenty of other places have been handled so badly by folks with power, we’ve to talk up and say that black folks don’t need to be handled this way,” said Sabby Dhalu from the organisation.
“Saying black people deserve to be handled higher is not saying anyone else ought to be treated worse. However sadly, for many reasons, some individuals are glad for this injustice to proceed, so they are saying things like ‘white lives matter’ or ‘all lives matter’ to take our attention away.”
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