When most people, of all races, say the words “Black Lives Matter, they’re not professing fealty to any organization or announcing alignment with some ideological plot (and stop listening to Tucker Carlson!)

They’re saying it because some don’t think black people’s lives matter.
Some people have taken this as some sort of a statement that black people matter more or that only black people’s lives matter. That’s not what most people who say it are saying.
To understand why people think that the lives of black people don’t matter to many in society, or at least not as much as some others, think about how we react when we hear the news about a black person being killed. Going missing. Becoming a crime victim. Compare it.
There are many people in this country who view any situation in which a black person is killed as less serious than if the same exact thing happened to a white person under the same exact circumstances. And assume, no matter what, that the decedent is at fault for their death.
They may never admit it and may not even realize that this is how they think. And when they see stories of another black person killed under circumstances that many white people have survived (you know, white folks do resist arrest also), they may feel sad.
But it’s more like “another dog got run over by a tractor trailer” sad and not “a human being who reminds me of my son” sad.

People may not realize it. If they realize it, they’re probably less likely to admit it. Sometimes not even to themselves. But the sentiment is there.
I know for a fact that if I were killed, when people saw the story in the news that a black man was slain, their first thought would be “what did he do?” Instead of “who would do such a thing.”

And it would be even worse if I were a younger man.
Actually, when a lot of people say “Black Lives Matter,” they’re not even saying it as a fully confident declarative statement. There’s often almost a question mark attached. As in “My life matters! Right?”
When we’re victims of a crime or abuse, to many, it’s not as serious. There’s got to be a rational explanation for it. Not just some of the time. All of the time. Racism doesn’t exist, right? Whenever we end up on the short end of the stick, it’s always our fault.
And on the other hand, whenever we’re involved in doing something wrong, in the eyes of some, it’s always more serious than if our white brethren did the same exact thing. It’s scarier. More threatening. The consequences must be stiffened. The response should be more aggressive.
So when you hear people say this, very few of them are professing any sort of membership in an organization. What they’re saying is that black lives SHOULD matter. And they’re saying it because, to too many people, including some who say they love God, they don’t matter much.
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