Of course all lives do matter. That’s, without a doubt, a true statement.

No one is going to disagree and say that there are lives that don’t. There lies the issue. All lives matter serves as a blanket statement used to diminish black issues.

Ultimately, it’s internalized racism showing itself. Many who use this phrase “Black lives matter” are often met with, “Well, all lives matter.” 

And yes, they do. But the purpose of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement isn’t to exclude, but to emphasize the lack of action and attention brought to the systematic racism and violence black people are facing. In no way is the movement meant to take away from the importance of human life of any other race, sexuality, ethnicity, age or gender.

“All lives matter” is always used at the wrong time. We don’t want you to say “All lives matter” as we cry over the bodies of our black family members, friends and community because they were “At the wrong place at the wrong time.” We are left in the hands of an institution that stems from a constitution that counted us as three-fifths of a person and continues to treat us as so.

Not once during this global pandemic did the hashtag “All Lives Matter” trend, instead we had different variations of us “all being together.”  But as soon as the black community brought up the BLM movement, “All Lives Matter” started trending. 

The murders that have happened in the past few weeks have shown that black people are not treated with equality. Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are the three most recognized innocent black lives that have been taken this past year. Taylor and Floyd were violently murdered by police. While jogging, Arbery was shot, unarmed, by two white men. Floyd, also unarmed, was being arrested under the assumption of using a fraudulent check and had an officer kneel on his neck until he died while handcuffed.Taylor, an EMT, was shot eight times in her own apartment after police entered with a “no-knock warrant,” meaning that they were allowed to enter her home unannounced and without having to state a reason. 

Seeing pictures of white school shooters being handcuffed and apprehended without violence while black men and women are treated as disposables for much smaller offenses, and in most cases, for nothing at all, is disheartening and the root of the BLM movement.

By coming back at someone saying “Black lives matter” with “All lives matter,” you’re silencing black people. This is not to exclude the importance of other lives, but to focus on the prevalence of black lives being taken by people who are supposed to protect them. If you hear someone say this in response to Black Lives Matter, remind them that the All Lives Matter movement is not as harmless as they may think. It has been used as a tool to invalidate  what the black community has experienced and the fears and problems we have. 

All we ask for, is to not say “All lives matter.” Do not group us with everyone else when we are not treated like everyone else. All Lives Matter is not a movement and shouldn’t be spoken as such.

Those innocent black lives were not seen as a part of “all lives.” This is why we say “Black lives matter.” Not to say that others don’t, but to say that we do, too.