The commander in chief has spoken! President Obama has praised the “Black Lives Matter” movement against police brutality, while underlining it’s importance over “All Lives Matter.”
Speaking at a forum on criminal justice reform, Obama went on to speak against those popularizing the “All Lives Matter” slogan which has been used as a counter to “Black Lives Matter.” Obama stressed that:
“I think everybody understands that all lives matter.”
Which is very true. No one with sense has ever seriously questioned whether all lives matter or not. The fact that “Black Lives Matter” is being used isn’t to indicate that black lives are the only ones that matter. It’s used to make it clear that black lives are the ones being targeted systematically by police and that black lives do matter, just as much as everybody else’s.
This is exactly what Obama underlined at the forum when he said:
“I think the reason that the organizers use the phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ was not because they were suggesting nobody else’s lives mattered. Rather, what they were suggesting was there is a specific problem that is happening in the African American community that’s not happening in other communities. And that is a legitimate issue that we’ve got to address.”
He also made it clear that this movement isn’t based on some made up illusion made by black people to get ahead. “The African American community is not just making this up.” He then stated that black people can “back it up with data, not anecdote.” Very true. Black people constitute 12.2 percent of the population, yet make up more than 40 percent of the prison population. Black people are more than twice as likely to be killed by police when unarmed than white people. Every 28 hours a black person is killed by a law enforcement agency in the country.
It’s refreshing to hear Obama speak about the issue, as his silence on the “Black Lives Matter” conversation has been deafening to say the least. His support of it shouldn’t be understated, and his confirmation of what everyone with a brain has been saying about the “Black Lives Matter” movement is vindication for the efforts of those supporting it.
