“All lives matter” is a problematic mission statement because it presupposes that oppression is the same for all races.

Yes, white people die all the time, too, but the history and politics involved in the deaths of white people and black people are vastly different.

Imagine all that white privilege, middle-class education and all, and you still cannot grasp the complex history of oppression that defines many social realities for black folks today.

And come on, let’s not pretend like proclaiming “all lives matter” actually helps anyone other than being deployed as rhetoric ammunition to dismiss and undermine clamors for the specific protection of black lives!