Black Lives Matter (does this white guy understand?)

[louis c]

I've been giving some thought about the "Black Lives Matter" movement.

I was involved as a young man in the civil rights movement and my late Father was a very close friend and political ally of Senator Ed Brooke of Mass. (1966-1978).

I like to pride myself in being an aging liberal (63 yrs. old).

I understand that blacks are being oppressed and treated unfairly by everyone in authority, especially black men.

But when others say that all lives matter, why do the demonstrators get so upset with folks who seem to be allies?

Like I said, I gave it some thought.

Then, it dawned on me. The attention should be going to the ones who need it. And the ones who need it are offended that we (whites) don't get it, because it's so obvious.

So, I came up with this analogy that seems to explain it in clearly simple terms.

Let's say there are 8 houses on a street and one is engulfed in flames. At that moment in time, that's the house that matters. The rest are safe. The neighbors need to come to the aid of the burning house. Sure, all the houses matter, but you are insulting the owner of the burning house if you even mention that. It's his (or her) house that is in urgent need, and only an idiot wouldn't be able to see that in real time.

[Rex]

1. People should not be running around agreeing with Glenn Beck. Period.

#alllivesmatter is a reaction by racists toward #blacklivesmatter. Don't take my word for it, ask Glenn Beck or go read all about it on his vile website.

[HappyPlace]

2. That works for me.

k/r

[Vinca]

3. But would the occupant of the burning house treat the firemen in the fashion Bernie was treated?

[graegoyle]

5. If they added gasoline to the burning home?

Officials lying, prosecutors advocating for the accused cops, ignoring video evidence, and so much more.

[Maedhros]

7. In this analogy, Bernie is the fireman.

He has in no way added gasoline to the fire.

[LanternWaste]

4. From my perspective, All Lives Matter is nothing more than a dog-whistle

From my perspective, All Lives Matter is nothing more than a dog-whistle. Anyone who uses it is either duped (75%), or happily blowing that whistle (25%).

[HFRN]

9. and heavy use of the term 'dog whistle' is just another form of McCarthyism

Last edited Thu Aug 13, 2015, 09:31 PM - Edit history (1)

'they call themselves 'Students for Democracy', but that's just a thin disguise for COMMUNISTS!!!!!

'All Lives Matter?' why, only a RACIST would say that!!!

where everyone is guilty of your accusation, just because you say so

EDIT:

'Anyone who uses it is either duped (75%), or happily blowing that whistle (25%).'

even the use of the word 'dupe' is very much from the McCarthy era, that if someone couldn't possibly know (perhaps because it actually wasn't) that some organization was 'a fellow travel of communists' then they were at least 'a dupe', which still was enough to destroy a person's career. 'Guilty, and can't be proven innocent'

[Supersedeas]

10. and then we have a vicious cycle

[jwirr]

6. Excellent analogy.

[louis c]

8. thanks (nt)