Why I Support Black Lives Matter

I’ll be honest it took me a while to understand and not be offended when I saw Kaepernick take a knee.  I understand that it’s a First Amendment right, but man, my father and grandfathers fought for that flag.  My son served this country under that flag. And when I first heard “Black Lives Matter” I too initially, without reflection, retorted, No, All Lives Matter.  

You see I was raised in a very white part of America.  I didn’t have my first Black teacher until I was a junior in college.  I knew a total of 3 black kids during my first 18 years of life so it was easy to say that racism didn’t exist, that it was a thing of the past or only happened in the South. 

I grew up with the stories and history lessons that told about America’s greatness, the ideals of freedom and liberty.  I was, and still am proud to live in the land of the free and home of the brave.  The place where everyone comes to chase the American Dream.   

So to see anything less than someone standing with a hand, proudly over one’s heart during the anthem or pledge has been both confusing and painful for me.  But I get it now and to be honest I’ve gotten for awhile, I just haven’t been as vocal as I should be . 

Now make no mistake, I’m not here to hate or bash on America, or white people or the police for that matter.  Matter of fact, I’m not here for any hate ever!  I’m here to call out hatred, racism and injustice.  I’m here to share a little history, to talk about the value of our individual lives and why today, on this day, we are here to emphasize the importance of why Black Lives Matter..

The Declaration of Independence, is the most beautiful breakup letter of all times. 

It’s so beautiful in how it conveys our beliefs about human life, our relationships with one another and our government, that you might even mistake it for a love letter.  

But it is no love letter, it is our divorce papers.  A divorce that would cost people their lives. It would also give birth to the American flag that seems to be at the center of this controversy.  

Now, after you get past the preamble, where it becomes clear that the people are breaking up with their king, it reads; 

We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among those rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  And that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. And when any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish such governments. 

Let’s break that down - All men are created equal - each of us standing here today are the same. Not one of us was created to be more worthy than the other.  None of us were created to be counted as less than.  

Endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights   Endowed comes from the word “dowry” and means to be given a gift, and “unalienable” means “that which is inseparable from us”.  Our rights are a gift from our creator and not something that any other human has the right to try and take from us.  Especially our rights to our Life, our Liberty and our pursuit of Happiness.

But now let’s take a step back in time, and let’s look at what was going on when those words were written.  

The very men that penned those words about equality and liberty were in fact slave owners. They owned other humans and said to black people, “your life matters less than mine.” They denied other people their freedom and stole from them the ability to chase their dreams.  

Now let’s be clear,  America did not invent slavery. Countless other civilizations throughout history have engaged in this most despicable and horrendous offense.  

No, we were not the first to practice slavery but we were the Country who declared to the world, our beliefs about equality and how All Lives Mattered. At the same time our government openly discounted the lives of black men, women and children for the sake of economic, and political gain by allowing slavery.

Even our founding fathers recognized their hypocrisy. They debated as to whether or not to even use the phrase “created equal”  they even debated about ending slavery. But in the end they couldn’t imagine living their lives and building this country without the ability to enslave black people.  Yes, Black Lives Mattered. 

Fast forward a few years to when we write our Constitution and the 3/5 Compromise.   Again we see the issue of Black Lives Matter arise.  Northern and Southern politicians were locked in a debate over the worth and value of black lives.  The argument centered around whether or not slaves should be counted as part of the population when determining representation in Congress.  

The North, not wanting to be dominated by the opinions and views of the South said, slaves should not be counted “Treat them as if they don’t exist so that we can dominate”.  

Southerners on the other hand, wanting to ensure that they had the power to drive the policies of our country, insisted that “each and every slave be fully counted”.  

In the end a compromise was reached.  It was determined that Black Lives do Matter but only as 3/5th of a person. Not exactly created equal is it? Once again the lives of Black people were discounted.  

Jump ahead to the Civil War. Some will say this war was fought over the issue of slavery.  Others will argue no it was a war over State’s rights -  Anyone who knows their history will reply,  “It was about a State's right to decide whether or not slavery is legal.”  Anyway you look at it, it was a war over whether or not Black Lives Mattered. 

The North having mostly ended the practice of slavery did not allow African Americans to serve in the Union Army .  

The South was forcing black soldiers to fight on behalf of the Confederacy.  With the South mostly dominating in the battles, Union soldiers began to question why they were fighting, if the very people they were trying to free were shooting at them?

So Lincoln using his power as Commander in Chief of the army, issued the Emancipation Proclamation. He declared all slaves being held in rebel States are now free and all black men are invited to join and fight on behalf of the Union. 

See Black Lives Mattered, they would become useful if for nothing else but to help win a war. 

During Reconstruction, we finally saw a glimmer of hope that we as a country would try to live up to our belief in equality of all people. And that our government would do its job in securing the rights of all its people.  We finally had a chance to prove that we believed that Black Lives Mattered, as much as our own. 

But then came the resistance to those efforts in the form of Black Codes. These laws applied only to blacks not whites. Laws that dictated what jobs they could work, the locations where they could live, who they could marry, even denying them their 2nd amendment right.  It seems the lives of black people mattered a great deal to those responsible for creating these laws, and they wanted to make sure that people fully understood that Black people were not equal and their lives did not matter, in the eyes of the law. 

Black Codes not only recreated a system similar to legalized slavery, that also made it increasing easy to be arrested just for being Black while in America.

It’s no coincidence that prisons in the South began to operate under the prisoner lease system during this time. A system where prisoners could be leased out for money to private plantation owners and mining operations. It’s also no coincidence that arrest rates of young black male increased around planting and harvesting seasons. Once again when it came to doing the work of those with a vested interest in money and power, Black Lives Mattered.

For the next 100 years Black Lives continued to Matter. It mattered that they didn’t go to the same schools, eat in the same restaurant or sit in our section of the bus.  And most definitely it mattered whether or not they got to vote.  

How and who they voted for in fact mattered so much that our government not only allowed, but did very little to stop the practices that would ensure that Black people couldn’t or wouldn’t vote. Oh yes when it was election time, Black Lives Mattered. 

As a nation we had a chance to live up to the words we wrote about all men being created equal, by ending slavery when we ended our relationship with Britain, but our government chose not to. 

And time and time again, when the very government that was tasked with securing the rights of all people, failed to do its job, the people of this country continued to vote for officials who did nothing to correct this injustice.  

Once again, discounting the value of African American lives and allowing a system of institutionalized racism in America to persist. 

Now we can not be held accountable for the past sins that have gotten us to where we are today.  It was not us that held those slaves, it was not us that failed to hold that form of government accountable.  

But we are the inhabitants of this country now, and so it is us that must bear the burden of the culture, the climate and the consequences of the mess that has been left to us by the previous generations.   

It’s time to have some hard conversations that acknowledge and allow us to reconcile with our past and yes in some places even our present. Only then can we make amends for the injustices that have been done and then begin to make the changes that need to be made 

The Declaration of Independence clearly states “that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just power, from the consent of the governed”. 

That’s right, the government’s job is to protect the rights of all its people and they possess the power to do so, only because we the people, put them there with our vote.  

It goes on to say “that when any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish that form of government”.  So yes when our government fails in its mission to protect the equality and right of its people, we the people need to hold them accountable, otherwise we are just as guilty as them.  

So you and I may not have committed the sins of slavery, we may not have participated in segregation, we may not be racist, but it is clear that it is our job to ensure that we never again elect officials that fail in their duty to live up to the principles of valuing black lives as equally as we value our own. 

We need to elect officials who will work to secure black rights in the same manner that all other people’s rights have been secured. 

It is also up to each of us as individuals to hold ourselves accountable in how we treat one another.  Are we treating each other as if we are equal or do we look down on one another because we have differing viewpoints? 

Are we shutting each other out and discounting each other's beliefs because the words we hear make us uncomfortable?  Or are we listening to try and understand the experiences that others have gone through that lead them to the viewpoints that they hold? And more importantly are we speaking up when we see racism rear its ugly head or do we stand in silence and pretend not to see?  

Black Lives Matter is not about trying to divide people, it’s not about elevating black people above others.  It’s not about trying to create “white guilt or shame” 

Black Lives Matter is about calling attention to the fact there is still some work to be done both institutionally and individually to ensure that African Americans are valued with the same level of equality as every other person in this country That their rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness are just as much protected as are yours and mine.  

This country was founded on some of the most righteous principles and values that one could ever imagine and our belief in those ideals are what makes America the greatest country on earth. 

Our founding fathers talked a good talk, America it’s time to walk the walk.  

Today I begin that walk by trying to explain why I believe Black Lives Matter.