Black Lives Matter or All Lives Matter? Muhammed Emin Kizilkaya skrifar 17. júní 2020 09:00 We have heard it from the past weeks from all around the world: Black Lives Matter. Men, women, children; people with different cultural, ethnical and religious background, people from different corners of the world walking on the streets united and in one solidarity waving their fists in the air with the phrase: Black Lives Matter! But where does this phrase come from? The Black Lives Matter movements emerged back in 2012 when an unarmed black teen, Trayvon Martin, was shot and killed in Sanford, Florida resulting in igniting protests and rage across the world. This incident became a symbol of the many different incidents of police brutality, racial profiling, institutional and public racism that has become an everyday thing among minorities in Western societies. But where there is thesis, there will be an antithesis. In fact, one of the most common questions given to those supporting and using the phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ is “Why saying ‘Black Lives Matter’? In my point of view, All Lives Matter! My life matters too!” Or “Well, don’t all lives matter?”. The answer is ‘Yes! Of course!’. But by saying ‘Black Lives Matter’, you are not saying that other lives don’t matter. You are bringing attention to the way that Black people across the world are denied certain human rights by virtue of being Black. And you are bringing light to racism experienced by minorities in the Western societies from a macro perspective with the constant stigmatization and negative labelling given by politicians and the media. From a micro the perspective of finding a job or to approaching new individuals, which itself can be a challenge due to the pigment of your skin. Or even being called names on the streets by random people simply because how you are beautifully created, which you appreciate and love but which you begin questioning due to the constant verbal attacks from all spheres of the society. Saying ‘Black Lives Matter’ does not put less emphasis on the importance of other lives but sends a message of an unfortunate tendency of hatred and ignorance, that still have a seat in a civilized world society today, that we are all commonly sharing. Now question yourself. Have you ever been a subject of institutional and public racism or racist profiling, being called names on the streets, being denied in public and private institutions due to the pigment of your skin, being stopped by the police randomly or by the security at the airport simply because your skin ‘looks suspicious’, being labelled or anticipated of being interested in certain sports or certain music genres or having different biological constructions simply because of the pigment of your skin? No? Then one should maybe reconsider the use of ‘All Lives Matter’ if one has never been subject to one or few of these things. If a house on your street was on fire, would you expect the fire service to train their hoses on all the houses? No! While the firefighters would, rightly, argue that all homes matter on the street, in that very moment the firefighters would focus their attention and expertise on the house that is about to burn down. But how about the constant talk about slavery? Why can we not just move forward and forget about history? A kind individual said: “But why can’t we just forget about what happened in the past with colonialism and slavery? I mean, no white person today owns a black slave, at least not what I see?” Dear individual. The idea that colonialism and enslavement are in the ‘distant past’ does NOT ring true. We are moving forward, and we should move forward as UNITED people where you see the human and try to be the human. Let us not forget that colonialism, wars and enslavement have fundamentally shaped our present realities. A black African American who carries the surname ‘Greene’, ‘Allen’ or ‘Jefferson’ can trace back their names to their ancestors who once arrived from Africa to an unknown world and were given these surnames by their slaveholders. The history will never be forgotten, but one has to use the history as a tool to create a better world for EVERYBODY by issuing the problem that we are experiencing today, which is crystal clear when it comes to the ongoing racism experienced by black people. In fact, it is near impossible to talk about African American or about native Americans or even Black Brits and Brown Brits and their status in the society without mentioning the colonial and postcolonial histories of these groups. I am not trying to say that we should use history to organize protests and riots. I am not a supporter of riots and destruction. But I cannot deny the problem that we are still experiencing in the Western societies. A riot is the language of the unheard, and history seems to repeat itself again and again and again. So is your house burning? Are you still saying ‘All Lives Matter’? ‘Black Lives Matter’ is a statement, a slogan, a phrase that represents a contradiction of a vicious and poisonous tendency in the Western societies. Of course, all lives DO matter but the phrase ‘All Lives Matter’ is a way of indirectly denying the problem that minorities are dealing with. It is a way to put yourself in a subject which you personally have never had to deal with and is a provocative and opposing way of reacting to the crystal clear patterns of racism against specific group of minorities who belong to a specific ethnic, religious or cultural background. The phrase ‘All Lives Matter’ is the antithesis of ‘Black Lives Matter! Black Lives Matter’ has become a representation against racism and bigotry today! As it is mentioned in the Qur’an 49:13, the world is made up of different families and tribes; and everyone is part of one big family or nation before God. The world would be gray and cold if everybody belonged to the same idea or to the same colour. We live in a beautiful world, a beautiful garden where we are all diverse flowers in different shapes and different colors. But we are still just flowers. That is what makes the world so beautiful. We shall not let anyone destroy our garden through bigotry and ignorance. Hence, the biggest cure against bigotry and ignorance is knowledge. You fear things you do not know anything about and if you feel a trace of fear and hatred towards a specific group of people, then YOU are the problem. Muhammed stundar meistaranám í félagsfræði við Háskóla Íslands, með sérstaka áherslu á rannsóknir og aðferðafræði. Þessi grein er birt í samstarfi við Róm. Rómur er vettvangur fyrir ungt frjálslynt fólk til þess að láta að sér kveða í samfélagsumræðunni. Viltu birta grein á Vísi? Sendu okkur póst. Senda grein Kynþáttafordómar Dauði George Floyd Rómur Black Lives Matter Mest lesið Örvæntingarfullur maður sker út grasker Þórður Snær Júlíusson Skoðun Ég var barnið sem vildi ekki taka í höndina á kennaranum sínum Fida Abu Libdeh Skoðun Bob Marley og íslenskar kosningar Gísli Hvanndal Jakobsson Skoðun Sjálfstæðisflokkur hækkar kostnað heimilanna Kristrún Frostadóttir Skoðun Gerum þetta að kosningamáli Ágúst Ólafur Ágústsson Skoðun Ölmusuhagkerfið Unnur Rán Reynisdóttir Skoðun Stóri grænþvotturinn Heiðrún Lind Marteinsdóttir Skoðun Eru vaxtarmörkin vandinn? Dóra Björt Guðjónsdóttir Skoðun Fyrirmyndarstjórn Viðreisnar og Samfylkingar á Reykjavíkurborg? Diljá Mist Einarsdóttir Skoðun Búum til „vandamál“ – leysum það með samræmdum prófum Árelía Eydís Guðmundsdóttir Skoðun Skoðun Skoðun Hjartsláttur sjávarbyggðanna Lilja Rafney Magnúsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Erum við tilbúin til að bæta menntakerfið okkar? Jónína Einarsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Eru vaxtarmörkin vandinn? Dóra Björt Guðjónsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Búum til „vandamál“ – leysum það með samræmdum prófum Árelía Eydís Guðmundsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Þöggun Guðbjörg Ása Jóns Huldudóttir,Margrét Kristín Blöndal,Margrét Rut Eddudóttir,Lukka Sigurðardóttir,Sigtryggur Ari Jóhannsson,Halldóra Jóhanna Hafsteins Âû skrifar Skoðun Ölmusuhagkerfið Unnur Rán Reynisdóttir skrifar Skoðun Fyrirmyndarstjórn Viðreisnar og Samfylkingar á Reykjavíkurborg? Diljá Mist Einarsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Sjálfstæðisflokkur hækkar kostnað heimilanna Kristrún Frostadóttir skrifar Skoðun Hvar er mannúðin? Davíð Sól Pálsson skrifar Skoðun Gerum þetta að kosningamáli Ágúst Ólafur Ágústsson skrifar Skoðun Stóri grænþvotturinn Heiðrún Lind Marteinsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Örvæntingarfullur maður sker út grasker Þórður Snær Júlíusson skrifar Skoðun Vill íslenska þjóðin halda í einmenninguna? Matthildur Björnsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Inngilding eða „aðskilnaður“? Jasmina Vajzović Crnac skrifar Skoðun Vonin má aldrei deyja Guðmunda G. Guðmundsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Ég var barnið sem vildi ekki taka í höndina á kennaranum sínum Fida Abu Libdeh skrifar Skoðun Um áhrif niðurskurðar á fjárlögum 2025 til kvikmyndagerðar og lista Steingrímur Dúi Másson skrifar Skoðun Bob Marley og íslenskar kosningar Gísli Hvanndal Jakobsson skrifar Skoðun Fólk eða fífl? Anna Gunndís Guðmundsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Eru til lausnir við mönnunarvanda heilsugæslunnar? Gunnlaugur Már Briem skrifar Skoðun Er eitthvað mál að handtaka börn? Elsa Bára Traustadóttir skrifar Skoðun Er ferðaþjónusta útlendingavandamál? Halla Signý Kristjánsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Íslenska kerfið framleiðir afbrotamenn Ágústa Ágústsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Ekki fokka þessu upp! Gunnar Dan Wiium skrifar Skoðun Kosningaloforð og hvað svo? Björn Snæbjörnsson skrifar Skoðun Fólk, fjárfestingar og framfarir Baldur Thorlacius skrifar Skoðun Húsnæðis- og skipulagsmál Anna Sofía Kristjánsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Falleinkunn fyrrum forseta Vilhjálmur Þorsteinsson,Viktor Orri Valgarðsson skrifar Skoðun Séreignarsparnaður nauðsynlegur valkostur til að létta greiðslubyrði Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir skrifar Skoðun Skattlögð þegar við þénum, eigum og eyðum Aron H. Steinsson skrifar Sjá meira
We have heard it from the past weeks from all around the world: Black Lives Matter. Men, women, children; people with different cultural, ethnical and religious background, people from different corners of the world walking on the streets united and in one solidarity waving their fists in the air with the phrase: Black Lives Matter! But where does this phrase come from? The Black Lives Matter movements emerged back in 2012 when an unarmed black teen, Trayvon Martin, was shot and killed in Sanford, Florida resulting in igniting protests and rage across the world. This incident became a symbol of the many different incidents of police brutality, racial profiling, institutional and public racism that has become an everyday thing among minorities in Western societies. But where there is thesis, there will be an antithesis. In fact, one of the most common questions given to those supporting and using the phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ is “Why saying ‘Black Lives Matter’? In my point of view, All Lives Matter! My life matters too!” Or “Well, don’t all lives matter?”. The answer is ‘Yes! Of course!’. But by saying ‘Black Lives Matter’, you are not saying that other lives don’t matter. You are bringing attention to the way that Black people across the world are denied certain human rights by virtue of being Black. And you are bringing light to racism experienced by minorities in the Western societies from a macro perspective with the constant stigmatization and negative labelling given by politicians and the media. From a micro the perspective of finding a job or to approaching new individuals, which itself can be a challenge due to the pigment of your skin. Or even being called names on the streets by random people simply because how you are beautifully created, which you appreciate and love but which you begin questioning due to the constant verbal attacks from all spheres of the society. Saying ‘Black Lives Matter’ does not put less emphasis on the importance of other lives but sends a message of an unfortunate tendency of hatred and ignorance, that still have a seat in a civilized world society today, that we are all commonly sharing. Now question yourself. Have you ever been a subject of institutional and public racism or racist profiling, being called names on the streets, being denied in public and private institutions due to the pigment of your skin, being stopped by the police randomly or by the security at the airport simply because your skin ‘looks suspicious’, being labelled or anticipated of being interested in certain sports or certain music genres or having different biological constructions simply because of the pigment of your skin? No? Then one should maybe reconsider the use of ‘All Lives Matter’ if one has never been subject to one or few of these things. If a house on your street was on fire, would you expect the fire service to train their hoses on all the houses? No! While the firefighters would, rightly, argue that all homes matter on the street, in that very moment the firefighters would focus their attention and expertise on the house that is about to burn down. But how about the constant talk about slavery? Why can we not just move forward and forget about history? A kind individual said: “But why can’t we just forget about what happened in the past with colonialism and slavery? I mean, no white person today owns a black slave, at least not what I see?” Dear individual. The idea that colonialism and enslavement are in the ‘distant past’ does NOT ring true. We are moving forward, and we should move forward as UNITED people where you see the human and try to be the human. Let us not forget that colonialism, wars and enslavement have fundamentally shaped our present realities. A black African American who carries the surname ‘Greene’, ‘Allen’ or ‘Jefferson’ can trace back their names to their ancestors who once arrived from Africa to an unknown world and were given these surnames by their slaveholders. The history will never be forgotten, but one has to use the history as a tool to create a better world for EVERYBODY by issuing the problem that we are experiencing today, which is crystal clear when it comes to the ongoing racism experienced by black people. In fact, it is near impossible to talk about African American or about native Americans or even Black Brits and Brown Brits and their status in the society without mentioning the colonial and postcolonial histories of these groups. I am not trying to say that we should use history to organize protests and riots. I am not a supporter of riots and destruction. But I cannot deny the problem that we are still experiencing in the Western societies. A riot is the language of the unheard, and history seems to repeat itself again and again and again. So is your house burning? Are you still saying ‘All Lives Matter’? ‘Black Lives Matter’ is a statement, a slogan, a phrase that represents a contradiction of a vicious and poisonous tendency in the Western societies. Of course, all lives DO matter but the phrase ‘All Lives Matter’ is a way of indirectly denying the problem that minorities are dealing with. It is a way to put yourself in a subject which you personally have never had to deal with and is a provocative and opposing way of reacting to the crystal clear patterns of racism against specific group of minorities who belong to a specific ethnic, religious or cultural background. The phrase ‘All Lives Matter’ is the antithesis of ‘Black Lives Matter! Black Lives Matter’ has become a representation against racism and bigotry today! As it is mentioned in the Qur’an 49:13, the world is made up of different families and tribes; and everyone is part of one big family or nation before God. The world would be gray and cold if everybody belonged to the same idea or to the same colour. We live in a beautiful world, a beautiful garden where we are all diverse flowers in different shapes and different colors. But we are still just flowers. That is what makes the world so beautiful. We shall not let anyone destroy our garden through bigotry and ignorance. Hence, the biggest cure against bigotry and ignorance is knowledge. You fear things you do not know anything about and if you feel a trace of fear and hatred towards a specific group of people, then YOU are the problem. Muhammed stundar meistaranám í félagsfræði við Háskóla Íslands, með sérstaka áherslu á rannsóknir og aðferðafræði. Þessi grein er birt í samstarfi við Róm. Rómur er vettvangur fyrir ungt frjálslynt fólk til þess að láta að sér kveða í samfélagsumræðunni.
Þessi grein er birt í samstarfi við Róm. Rómur er vettvangur fyrir ungt frjálslynt fólk til þess að láta að sér kveða í samfélagsumræðunni.
Skoðun Þöggun Guðbjörg Ása Jóns Huldudóttir,Margrét Kristín Blöndal,Margrét Rut Eddudóttir,Lukka Sigurðardóttir,Sigtryggur Ari Jóhannsson,Halldóra Jóhanna Hafsteins Âû skrifar
Skoðun Fyrirmyndarstjórn Viðreisnar og Samfylkingar á Reykjavíkurborg? Diljá Mist Einarsdóttir skrifar
Skoðun Um áhrif niðurskurðar á fjárlögum 2025 til kvikmyndagerðar og lista Steingrímur Dúi Másson skrifar
Skoðun Séreignarsparnaður nauðsynlegur valkostur til að létta greiðslubyrði Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir skrifar