Not All Black Lives Matter to Black Lives Matter
Article by Ben Shapiro in "Townhall":
This week, CNN's Don Lemon, who has spent the last few weeks bashing the supposed thoroughgoing systemic racism of the United States, hosted black actor Terry Crews. He then proceeded to browbeat Crews, who had committed the great sin of tweeting, "#ALLBLACKLIVESMATTER 9 black CHILDREN killed by violence in Chicago since June 20, 2020." Lemon specifically objected to Crews' hashtag. After Lemon humbly informed Crews that he has skin "as tough as an armadillo," he then lectured: "The Black Lives Matter movement was started because it was talking about police brutality. ... But that's not what Black Lives Matter is about. It's not ... all-encompassing ... The Black Lives Matter movement is about police brutality and injustice in that matter, not about what's happening in black neighborhoods."
This, of course, is largely false. The Black Lives Matter movement did indeed begin with protests about police brutality but quickly morphed into broader debates over the validity of looting and rioting, tearing down historic statues, slavery reparations and defunding the police. And Black Lives Matter, as Crews correctly pointed out, has never restricted its mandate to the question of police violence: It has announced that its focuses also include police brutality, transgender rights, gay rights, disrupting the nuclear family and freeing Palestine, among other diverse topics.
So why is Lemon so deeply invested in preventing conversations about black lives? Why, in fact, do only some black lives matter, rather than all?
McNeal was just one of the latest victims of a wave of violence gripping America's major cities. Last weekend, at least 89 people were shot in Chicago, leaving at least 17 dead. Shootings in Philadelphia have spiked 67%. In the first week of June, Los Angeles saw a shocking 250% increase in murders from the prior week. New York City's shootings have skyrocketed 44% over last year's numbers; every person shot there the week of June 29 -- 101 -- was from a minority community. It turns out that the agenda of Black Lives Matter, which includes fighting against the prevalence of police -- a call taken up by Democratic mayors and city councils around the United States -- endangers black lives far more than the presence of police.
All that matters for too many in our elite institutions is the narrative that America's systems are the greatest obstacle to black Americans. And not all lives lost are equally valuable in promoting that perverse narrative.
https://townhall.com/columnists/benshapiro/2020/07/08/not-all-black-lives-matter-to-black-lives-matter-n2572074
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