The Problem with "All Lives Matter"

We've all heard of the "all lives matter" vs. "Black lives matter" debate. Kevin Roose tries to offer some clarity to those that scream "all lives matter" in his article https://splinternews.com/the-next-time-someone-says-all-lives-matter-show-them-1793849332. 

It is so cringey when someone dismisses the Black Lives Matter movement by yelling "ALL LIVES MATTER!" It's like...

The whole misunderstanding is that there is an implicit "too" after BLM. How is it that such a large group of people missed that? I'll never know.

After brutal police killings of black people occur, someone is always right there to say that all lives matter and then proceed to bring up black on black crime. The purpose of Roose's article was to show the people of all lives matter why it is that what they're saying is dismissive and basically a slap in the face. 

But here's what I think....

That's right. I think they know exactly what they're doing. Nobody wants to believe that the system is broken, especially if there's a chance that you could be part of the problem. It takes a lot less energy to simply convince yourself that there is not a problem to begin with. I think we all would prefer to live life believing that everything is okay. Much like the children of Mott Haven in Kozol's "Amazing Grace", people of the all lives matter movement have become desensitized to the injustices involving black people. But here's the thing about desensitization...you have to witness and be a part of something, before you can become desensitized to it. 

The mindset of most white Americans, is that racial injustice is a thing of the past.

we wish this were true

One of the remaining social issues that I have mentioned in my previous blog post, is modern segregation in schools. Minorities growing up in poor neighborhoods attend poorly funded schools, receiving a lesser quality education. Here is a copy of the link to the TED talk regarding this issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O7BMa9XGXE

Americans have this mindset that everything has been fixed after the civil rights movement. If you ask a child about Ruby Bridges, they might tell you that what she did was an event of the past, not realizing that Ruby is only 64 years old. In, fact, most of my classmates didnt even realize that she was still alive.

Anyways, my point is, I don't think the all lives matter movement needs to be told that what they are saying dismisses the problem. In my opinion, these people are aware. They simply don't want to put in the effort to make any changes.

Jonathan Kozol: Amazing Grace

"What is it like for children to grow up here? What do they think the world has done to them? Do they believe that they are being shunned or hidden by society? If so, do they think that they deserve this? What is it that enables some of them to pray? When they pray, What do they say to God?"

I'm not crying, you're crying

Reading this text was very humbling. It's hard to make yourself blind to a certain issue when you see children involved. When we imagine children, we picture loud, happy, tiny humans playing games and laughing. What we don't imagine, is that they might be doing these things in a neighborhood where 3 shootings have occurred in one day.

The children that live in Mott Haven, mostly minorities, do not always give off the appearance of being sad. For example, the young boy named Cliffie does not seem bothered at all by his surroundings. In a way, that makes this whole situation a lot more grim; the reason being that cliffie must simply not know of any other way of life. When children are born into Mott Haven, they do not realize that their living situation is abnormal or unfair, until they are introduced to the living conditions of others. They simply adapt to their environment and become desensitized to it. 

Basically Cliffie

This reading reminded me of the TED talk "How America's public schools keep kids in poverty" given by Kandice Sumner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O7BMa9XGXE

In Kozol, the children that live in Mott Haven likely have less access to a proper education. Not only do these children have to live in awful conditions, but they also can only attend schools in that same unsafe neighborhood. The "white" neighborhoods are allotted the better books, and overall better education.

How can a child rise up from poverty without the knowledge to do so?

Kristof "U.S.A., Land of Limitations?"

FNED blog dog here, today I'm going to be commenting on Kristof's "U.S.A., Land of Limitations?". Now before we start, am I the only one that thought of Kristoff from the movie Frozen?

"Let it goooooo"

Moving on to the non animated Kristof, he begins to talk about how America at one point was truly the "land of opportunity", but nowadays, this proves to be false unless you were born with some advantages. Some People are quick to tell others how they need to work harder in order to succeed, meanwhile they themselves are starting to come off like this:

Kristof goes on to explain that poverty may not even be the greatest hindrance of success. Instead, emotional factors seem to be just as if not more important. For example, I have met a lot of parents that live in poverty that don't take the time to support their children emotionally, simply because they don't know how. These parents are often in "survival mode" and may not even know how to support their children

To sum it up, we all all work very hard to progress in life. However, some people work just as hard, and only get to take two steps forward, while others win the race.

About me

So I guess it's time to talk about my favorite subject, myself (just kidding this is painful). But hey guys, I'm Savonna and I'm an elementary education major with a concentration in math. I know what you're thinking... "Wow she must be great at math!" and the answer to that is

Honestly, I just like to test myself and see if I'll fail miserably or not. Keeps life interesting you know?

I was born in Connecticut, moved to the Dominican Republic when I was 9 and lived there for two years. 

Here I am (the one with the hat) riding a donkey

I had fun in D.R. but when I was 12 I moved back to the states (specifically the smallest one). I now work full time as a manager at Wendy's. When I'm not working I like to cook, bake, and watch netflix

That's enough about me, hope you enjoy my blog :)