Argumentative Essay On All Lives Matter

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One of the controversies facing the movement is the idea that it is a hate group. Hate groups, by Southern Poverty Law Center’s definition, are “those that vilify entire groups of people based on immutable characteristics such as race or ethnicity. Federal law takes a similar approach.” After what happened of the eight cop deaths in Dallas and Baton Rouge, people want Black Lives Matter to be named a hate group. The president of the SPLC notes that there are, in fact, black hate groups, yet Black Lives Matter does not fit into that extreme category. For instance, the New Black Panther Party have anti-semitic and anti-white views. In fact, the leader said that there are “no good crackers,” and that, if a “good” one were to be found, they should …show more content…

Why? All lives do matter, but why is it controversial in terms of Black Lives Matter? According to a Huffington Post article by white man John Halstead, “All Lives Matter is a response to Black Lives Matter.” He says that no one said ALM before BLM was being said, and since people are comfortable saying “Blue Lives Matter,” the trigger word must be “black.” Which instates the notion that the word “black” makes people uncomfortable, specifically white people. Halstead states, “Now some white people might say that singling out Black people’s lives as mattering somehow means that white lives don’t matter. Of course, that’s silly. If you went to a Breast Cancer Awareness event, you wouldn’t think that they were saying that other types of cancer don’t matter. And you’d be shocked if someone showed up with a sign saying ‘Colon Cancer Matters’ or chanting ‘All Cancer Patients Matter.’ So clearly, something else is prompting people to say ‘All Lives Matter’ in response to ‘Black Lives Matter.’” Halstead introduces the term “color blindness,” in which white people avoid the color of other’s skin. However, white people can be “color-blind” because white privilege allows them to ignore race in a society where “whiteness is the default.” Black people, however, cannot be “colorblind” because they are constantly …show more content…

It began as a result of George Zimmerman’s acquittal for the murder of Trayvon Martin in 2013. As a result, the movement has popularized and has accomplished much for the black community, yet they are still faced with many issues and controversies. Among the issues are police brutality, the act of cops over-exercising their force on suspects; and systematic or institutionalized racism, the ingraining racism into different aspects of a society, such as the court system. The controversies include the movement being coined a hate group for the police deaths that occurred in Baton Rouge and Dallas last year and the “movement” that sprouted as a response of Black Lives Matter, All Lives Matter. Despite the many issues that the movement must address and the controversies that plague the movement, the movement is still going on strong and has gained plenty support over the years as non-black people march in solidarity with the

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