It's Time To Repossess 'All Lives Matter'
I’m going to save you another sermon delivered by a penitent member of the ruling elite, and just tell you that I’m mad.
I’m mad at lots of things that I never thought I’d be mad at again, but I’m especially mad at the way some innocuous words are being used to sow hatred and division.
Before you say, “He’s mad about words?”, let me share with you a core learning from my post-graduate studies in communication.
Words matter.
Yes, actions matter, but words are terribly important, because taken together with the tone and context in which they are delivered, words convey deep meanings and add symbolism that can surpass even the highest-profile actions.
That was brought into sharp focus this week by the uses, proper and otherwise, of the phrases “black lives matter” and “all lives matter.”
They’re not words you can disagree with easily on their faces. Of course black lives matter. Of course all lives matter. That’s biblical: You do unto others as you would have others do unto you. That’s poetic: Every man’s death diminishes me.
But the problem is that some people have twisted “black lives matter” to suggest it’s exclusionary and “all lives matter” to suggest it’s inclusionary, when in fact the opposite is true.
By saying “black lives matter,” you’re not saying that only black lives matter. You’re reminding people of privilege that, hey, black lives matter, and instead of dismissing the death of yet another black person in the hands of police with a wave of your hand, you need to address this now.
Conversely, too many people use “all lives matter” as code for “let’s keep the status quo.” And keeping the status quo, where people of color are denied access to adequate housing and healthcare, where they are disproportionately targeted by law enforcement, where they are incarcerated longer and treated more harshly than their white counterparts, where they are presented with glass ceilings and brick ceilings and obstacles of every sort in their quest for a better life – keeping the status quo is simply not an option for anyone with a shred of compassion, decency, or common sense.
“All lives matter” has been turned into a sort of “pro-life” for closet racists, and that has to end.
So here’s what I’m proposing instead.
Photo by Sean Benesh on Unsplash.
I say that starting right now we repossess the term “all lives matter” and use it as a basis for a manifesto that lays out a commitment to all citizens, not just Old White Guys or other people of privilege.
I say we take that dog whistle and turn it into something useful.
Here’s how that would sound.
All lives matter … so let’s commit this country to ensuring that everyone living here, legally or illegally, has affordable access to high-quality healthcare, so no one will have to choose between meals or insulin, and pandemics will no longer rage unchecked through our populations of color.
All lives matter … so let’s ensure that chronic hunger is a memory.
All lives matter … so let’s feed and shelter and clothe and tend to the homeless and sick.
All lives matter …. so let’s end police brutality directed at individuals and communities of color.
All lives matter … so let’s enforce our laws fairly and equitably and put safeguards in place to ensure truly equal justice, so that the corporate swindler and the possessor of an ounce of pot are given punishments that genuinely fit their crime.
All lives matter … so let’s make sure that every school is fully funded and its teachers and staff are given sufficient resources to educate and address the needs of every student, so that our next generation of students can solve the intractable problems we’re about to hand them.
All lives matter … so if someone needs job training, they should get it. If they need a job, they should get that, as well as the means to get to and from work. And if they want to attend college, it should not define their financial existence for the next 30 years of their lives.
All lives matter … so let’s clean up the water and air and soil around some of our most impoverished communities, and cut the number of lives destroyed by corporate greed and indifference to environmental regulations.
All lives matter … so let us guarantee that everyone not only has the right to vote, but has the means to cast their ballot in an informed manner in a fair election.
If you come up to me and say, “all lives matter,” I’m assuming you mean this. If you don’t mean this, I’m assuming you’re a hypocrite.
Photo by Jacob Morsch on Unsplash.
One more thing about words: People say “talk is cheap,” and they’re right. Comparatively speaking, it cost me a lot less to write this than it’ll cost to ensure everyone has real access to affordable healthcare.
But I’ll tell you one thing that’s even cheaper than talk: money.
When the Walt Disney Co. says it will donate $5 million to civil-rights causes, or when the National Football League pledges $20 million to combat racism, that’s cheap.
Whether viewed in the context of the thousands of black men the NFL crippled or rendered senseless and provided meager compensation, or taken on its own merits, $20 million is nothing. It’s a tax writeoff. It’s a reflex, like a belch. It’s just one of many checks that are written. And some of those checks go to people and organizations that are working to deny rights and perpetuate racism.
And for the NFL to ante up only after nationwide protests precipitated by the death of a black man at the hands of police – not his actual death, mind you, but the protests that followed – while continuing to treat the respectful protests of Colin Kaepernick and others as tantamount to high treason against the United States of America … that’s hypocrisy defined, right there.
The old labor union, the Industrial Workers of the World, had it right: Direct action gets the goods.
Don’t give $20 million. Hire a CEO of color. Put more diversity on your board. Take care of the maimed ones you treated like cannon fodder, and their survivors.
Don’t put a black square on Twitter. Ensure that impoverished schools have access to the latest technology.
Don’t make a video. Get out there and make a difference.
I’ll be honest: I don’t know what I’m going to do about all this ultimately. I may march or sing or write. I may build houses or work with the homeless. I’m definitely going to vote.
But I’m going to do something. I’m going to keep trying to make things more equitable for everyone. I’m going to keep doing the hard work, as best as I can. And I’m going to keep trying to say the right things the right way.
That’s because I’ve learned something too many people have forgotten: In times like these, all words matter – even these. I hope you take them to heart.