Ok on to the second part of my argument. Right away the title of the movement is a buzzword that is slightly contrary to its name. It is called #blacklivesmatter which to me would indicate that they want black lives lost in general to matter in some way or get attention. However on the website it seems that they only care about violence against blacks at the hand of the state.
Some of this, most of this frankly, is self-explanatory in what I already wrote. Black. Lives. Do. Not Matter. We've proved that for the last 500 years and I'm being generous with the numbers.
But let's get a bit more complicated. Let's ask this question: how does class intersect with race? Because if a well-to-do banker, regardless of race, gets gunned down in his home...we care about that, right? We're talking about drugs, prostitution, violence, etc. The middle class, regardless of race, is represented in the news. And that is...true.
Socioeconomics is a greater predictor for success than race. Some even argue that race has little to no impact in comparison to socioeconomics. That means if you're black and your dad is a doctor and your mom is an accountant, you're on an even playing field. And you are....kind of. Race has (in my reading, which may be outdated, please correct me) little impact.
Until....that pesky until...we get into gentrification. Because there's a cycle in US history with regards to black neighborhoods. Poor black people find a neighborhood, inhabit it, build it up with businesses and shops, and then it gets bought out from under them. And then the working class folk being employed and sustained cannot afford to live there because it gets re-branded as 'white' and they don't keep their jobs. And so they get routinely pushed into poorer neighborhoods to start again, with less money and resources, from scratch. This happens ALL THE FUCKING TIME. We do not talk about it. We call it capitalism. We say the highest bidder deserves the land. But it makes it impossible for urban communities to self-inflate and it means a lot of urban populations are stuck in systems of poverty. Don't believe me? Look at Harlem.
And a couple of systems keep repeating. So long as schools rely on property tax, predominately black schools are under-funded. So long as healthy economic jobs are reclaimed by white industry, it is really hard to build an employment history that gives you access to health care, sick leave, etc. If everything you ever build is pulled out from beneath you, there's no chance of reaping the benefits. It's a loosing game. And there's SO MUCH loss. Poorer area rely on drugs and illegal activity. You have food desserts which stop people from shopping smart and healthy. People have work longer hours which stops them from participating in the classroom and being engaged in their kid's education. Basically, all the shit people take for granted goes up in smoke.
Not for everyone. Not in every circumstance. But it is a steep fucking uphill battle. And when you make ground, it is stripped away. Because that 19th C. Bullshit is still in people's heads and they want to live next to white people. It is maddening. We've basically created another form of Jim Crow. We made it about money, not race, but it is STILL about race. We're still pulling the bullshit we pulled in 1890 but we've wrapped it in different packaging. We dissolve healthy, thriving black neighborhoods for condo developments. We still argue that property tax is a fair way of handling school funding, despite SHOCKING state dependencies. We're still living Jim Crow. The water fountains are the same, but you're missing the bigger picture.
So....you wonder. Why are people arguing that black lives matter? Because they never have. They didn't start and stop again. We're still in the Civil War. We're still living through that bullshit. But you cannot, do not see it.