DID BLACK LIVES EVER MATTER IN US HISTORY?

A common criticism of the Black Lives Matter slogan is that it itself is racist - that the slogan should be: ALL Lives Matter. But the issue isn’t as black and white (pun intended) as all that. In the context of Africans in America, history is the crucial factor.

In this clip, late US activist and YouTuber Sandra Bland (responding precisely to comments on her page that actually ALL lives matter) points out that, when you look back, Black lives have never mattered in America - not since they were forcibly brought there from Africa. Bland herself would go on to become a victim of the brutality of the systemic oppression and violence that Africans in America are subjected to on a daily basis.

On July 10th, 2015, she was stopped by a White police officer for changing lanes without signalling. She was arrested during the stop for allegedly assaulting the officer who had stopped her. Three days later, she was discovered dead in her cell. Police claimed that it was death by suicide, but this claim was disputed by her family and friends, who suspect foul play. The police officer involved in the arrest was charged with perjury for lying about the details of the arrest, but the charge was dropped on condition that he never works in law enforcement again.

In May 2019, video footage that Bland filmed during the arrest emerged. It strongly suggests that the police officer's claim that he felt threatened during the stop was false. This resulted in calls for a new inquiry into the incident, which became one of the prominent deaths that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement.

The tragic ending of sister Bland's life makes her message in the video even more poignant. It shows that the lives of Black people in the United States are in constant danger of a system that oppresses and violates them. And because the problem runs so deep that it’s systemic - for, as a matter of fact, all lives, all races, are not treated equally - it’s right to focus on ‘Black’ in our activism.

What do you think?