Understanding The Black Lives Matter Movement

Racial tensions are high these days, and the Black Lives Matter movement seems to rub many people the wrong way. I was actually one of them, although I have never considered myself to be prejudiced in any way. Skin color has never mattered to me. I have had close friends from every race. My brother-in-law, Brian, is at the top of my list of people I love and respect, based on his warm and compassionate personality. He is a black man, and I would feel no different if his skin was any other color. I see people based on who they are, not how they look.

And still, the Black Lives Matter movement bothered me. It felt to me as if saying Black Lives Matter negated the fact that all lives matter. Why should one race or another be singled out as the ones who matter?

I went to a discussion that touched on Black Lives Matter today. The panel of three included Pastor Mike Adams, a white man; Jason Harrison, a black man; and Tatiana Adams, a Hispanic woman of Cuban and Puerto Rican descent, who also happens to be Pastor Mike’s daughter-in-law.

As I was listening to Jason Harrison, a black man, speak on the subject today, I was treated to an inside look at some of the challenges black people have faced in recent history. As I listened with an open heart and mind, I began to understand that, while I have never treated people of other races different from those of my own, that does not mean that I know what it is like to walk a mile in their shoes.

WNCW notes that some organizers of the Black Lives Matter movement are looking to unify our communities and bring all the different races together as neighbors. Likewise, the New York Times reports DeRay Mckesson, a Black Lives Matter leader, spoke out after the Baton Rouge shooting, saying it’s time to end the violence.

Jason Harrison, Assistant Chaplain for the Alton Police Department in Illinois, says the Black Lives Matter movement has nothing to do with anger over our country’s history of slavery, but everything to do with the injustices black people have endured over more recent years. He spoke of lessons his parents taught him when he was young, lessons that he terms necessary for survival of a young black person.

Jason was taught that when he went to a store, he should dress well, never put his hands in his pockets, always be polite and respectful, and always keep his hands where they could be seen. Why did his parents instill these principles in their son? The answer is simple; to keep him safe.

This was eye-opening to me. No one has ever gotten the wrong idea about me because of the clothes I wear or what I decided to do with my hands. If a person looks suspicious to someone simply because of the color of his skin, of course he would need to set himself apart from those who actually are perpetrating crimes. A misunderstanding could end with disastrous results. Jason played the video shown above, which touches on some of the points his own parents taught him.

As a mother, it breaks my heart to think of fearing for my child in this way. In the video, when the little boy whispers “even if you’re afraid,” I was moved to tears. Children should not have to carry a burden like that.

Jason used the following analogy to explain Black Lives Matter versus all lives matter.

“It’s like if my house were on fire, and I called the fire department, and they drove around the entire neighborhood because all the houses matter. All the houses matter, but mine is the house that’s on fire. Mine is the one that needs urgent attention.”

This made so much sense to me. I’m so glad I sat in on this discussion that involved Black Lives Matter and gained a level of understanding that I’d not had before. Not that I understand everything, because I have not walked in those shoes. But I have gained extra understanding, and along with it, extra compassion, and more respect. For that I am thankful.

[Image via Shutterstock]