Why is it "Black lives matter" and not "Black lives matter, TOO"?

Saying black lives matter, too, makes it sound like an afterthought. It is as if you are saying, white lives matter and, oh year, black lives also matter.

Because it should not be an afterthought. And white lives are not operating under the assumption of being a threat just for the color of their skin.

Saying “Black Lives Matter” seems to say that all other people of color don’t matter or don’t matter as much. What makes “black lives” more special than others? Nothing. ALL lives matter, if it is to be said.
This is another fine example of political correctness run amok.

“Black Lives Matter” is a response to our culture and history of inequality. It’s pushback against the mistaken belief that they don’t count, a belief that’s not so much voiced outright anymore, but tacitly accepted by the white majority. Not just whenever a person of colour is shot by police and silence ensues, but also in structural issues. As evidenced by children born into poverty, lack of equal access to education, harsher prison sentences, etc.

All else being equal, race is a predictor for a more difficult life. That’s not fair, and if the majority of white people agreed we would reliably work (and vote) against it instead of getting hung up on semantics.

^ this

So, @kritiper – when you respond to “black lives matter” with defense and claim that “ALL lives matter”, you’re pushing back against the pushback. You’re denying the reality and taking an ideological stand against the movement.

If “all” lives mattered and you really felt that, you likely would have been active against police brutality, income inequality, and systemic racism for years before people had to declare that “black lives matter”. As it stands, your claim that that “all live matters” is just a reactionary rejection of the experience of black people in the US. It’s racist.

@longgone Make that ASSUMED “mistaken belief.”
@hmmmmmm That is your assumption. Assumptions are a very big part of the problem, IMO.
(And yet another example of political correctness run amok!)

^ Did your keyboard break before you were able to form a lucid response?

@kritiper Would you prefer to be a Black man in America rather than a white man? Please open your eyes. Or don’t if you haven’t already. But do cut the bullshit about “political correctness’. Racism and inequality have nothing to do with political correctness. That is an old bigot’s dog whistle.

Saying “black lives matter” is like saying “black people are treated worse by police” and saying “all lives matter” in response is like saying “no they’re not”. That’s why people don’t like that response. It’s denying the problem the statement is pointing out.

“Black lives matter” does mean “black lives matter too”. That should be self-evident.

@kritiper Replace your phrase “political correctness” with the word “respect”.

People who complain about “political correctness run amok” are really complaining about having to demonstrate respect to other people.

Because, by definition, that implies secondary status.

It implies afterthought or prompting.
I love you!
Love ya too (as he runs out the door).

“Black lives matter” is a full, and complete idea. Full stop. It shouldn’t have to be explicitly stated in this way, but because our society doesn’t value black people in the way it should—as indicated by dozens of different metrics demonstrating systemic inequality, it needs to be expressed in this way.

If you wanted to expand the statement to help people who don’t “get it,” it might go something like: “Black lives ACTUALLY DO MATTER! Seriously!”