Black Lives Matter, Yes, Black Lives Matter. We collectively have been asked to “Say It” and I am saying it and writing it. But more than just “Saying It”, I believe it in the depth of my soul, and I understand that there are social issues in our nation.
Duke Basketball Coach, Mike Krzyzewski, posted a video imploring us to say, “Black Lives Matter…. We should be saying it every day…. It’s not political. This is not a political statement. It’s a human rights statement. It’s a fairness statement.”
As I try to learn more about the current emotion around the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, I have engaged some well-educated young people to try and help me understand. Unfortunately, what I have learned from some flies in the face of, “It’s a human rights statement. It’s a fairness statement.” It has been explained to me that they believe, “that all lives do not matter UNTIL Black Lives Matter” and “what is wrong with letting them have all the attention?” Finally, “there is a time and place to be inclusive and this is not it.” Hearing and reading these statements just did not feel right in my heart. When I questioned these statements, I was told, “It is a movement and can’t be limited or defined.”
Yes, Black Lives Matter and when I say it, I understand the central idea and I believe it. But, when I say it, I feel a vacancy in my heart because the statement by itself is not truly, “a human rights statement…. a fairness statement” at all. When I say it, I know I am acknowledging my feelings for those I care very much about who are black but, I feel like I am being unfair and dismissive to the others that I also care so much about. Those who are of Hispanic descent, Native American, Indian, Pakistani, Asian, Russian, African, Middle Eastern, Israeli, Greek, Italian and White. Just trying to be inclusive by listing these, I am sure I have left out some nationality or ethnicity of a dear friend. This approach is difficult for me as my heart does not categorize my feelings this way.
A human rights statement and a fairness statement must be tied to the definition of, “Human Rights.” Human Rights are moral principles or norms that describe certain standards of human behavior and are regularly protected as natural and legal rights in municipal and international law. They are commonly understood as inalienable, fundamental rights “to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being” and which are “inherent in ALL human beings”, regardless of age, ethnic origin, location, language, religion, or any other status. They are applicable everywhere and at every time in the sense of being universal, and they are egalitarian in the sense of being the same for everyone.
Coach Krzyzewski went on to say, “No problem is solved unless you acknowledge the problem,” Krzyzewski said, “We see [the problem]. And what do we do when we see it? We turn the other way. We don’t solve the problem. The problem will not be solved, and no problem is solved unless you acknowledge the problem. Acknowledge it. If you acknowledge it, you have the duty to solve it. We as a country have the duty to solve this problem.” I agree with Coach Krzyzewski entirely (An idea without a plan is a wish; it is all about execution this time).
I genuinely appreciate the thoughts and feelings that have been shared with me on this topic as I want to understand at a deeper level. However, when I hear, “It is a movement and can’t be limited or defined” it does make it difficult to comprehensively, “Acknowledge it” though I know that we as nation have the duty to solve it.
When I hear, “that all lives do not matter UNTIL Black Lives Matter” I know that this perpetuates the notion held by some that we are NOT all CREATED equal, all the time.
My concern with the question “what is wrong with letting [blacks] have all the attention?” is that real change in our nation cannot happen in series, it must happen in parallel. We as a Nation, do not have time to address racial and social issues one ethnicity or gender at a time.
Finally, when I am told, “there is a time and place to be inclusive and this is not it” it hurts my heart because I know that a “house divided against itself cannot stand.” Saying that there is a time to be non-inclusive directly contradicts the premise that, “All People are Created Equal.” This perpetuates one of the greatest evils this nation has imposed in its history which is, racial segregation. Racial segregation is the systemic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life and it is something that this nation rejected years ago and is far better for rejecting it.
Coach Krzyzewski ends by saying, “Help me choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong…. We as a country have chosen the easier wrong for four centuries. It is time to choose the harder right. It is time to end systemic racism and social injustice. It’s time. Black Lives Matter.”
As I said above, I am saying it and writing it. Black Lives Matter! But more than just “Saying It”, I believe deep in my soul that to end racism and address social issues in our nation we must embrace our nation’s founding principles as declared 244 years ago tomorrow, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”