In an ideal world, BLM would have switched to chanting “All lives matter” without skipping a beat: Deny the assclowns their slogan, simultaneously say “yep we’re people, too, part of ‘all’, get used to it”, simultaneously, ally with other groups the US police walks all over, like neurodivergent folks.
In an ideal world black people would be treated with the same respect as everyone else and there wouldn’t be a need for BLM to exist in the first place. The reason for focusing on black people instead of everyone is because they aren’t treated equally. ‘All Lives Matter’ is a slogan to avoid acknowledging that black lives also matter.
Are neurodivergent folks treated equally, with equal consideration? “Existing while not being able to respond to BS demands” is a crime that exists in the US. There’s a bodycount to back that up, covering the whole spectrum of spectrum disorders.
That out of the way: Why give the enemy a slogan and exclude your allies? What possible gain would that bring about?
All Lives Matter’ is a slogan to avoid acknowledging that black lives also matter.
Because it was claimed by fascists. That’s the only reason it has that meaning. Because it was given up, not claimed by woke folks. Words, slogans, don’t have meaning in themselves the meaning only exists in context. “All lives matter” is a fascist slogan because it got chanted by fascists, not because it’s fascist in itself. If fascists shout “chocolate pudding is tasty”, what does that mean? I have no idea but it surely doesn’t bode well for black folks.
You don’t have to fucking explain to me that “All lives matter” got appropriated by fascists. I fucking know. I’m complaining about how BLM let it be appropriated, how the wider platform let victory be snatched away from under their fingertips by semiotic illiteracy that made MLK spin in his grave. Man was way ahead of <currentyear>.
There was a brief moment where “all lives matter” had no clear meaning, where the slogan still was up for grabs, where the fascists were still starting to rally while BLM was already in full swing. If, at that juncture, BLM had had the wherewithal to, as I already said, switch to chanting “all lives matter” without skipping a beat the few fascists already using it would have looked like actually supporting BLM. They would’ve backed off.
I’m vegan, too. But I don’t feel constrained that the utterance “All Lives Matter” now has negative connotations when delivered outside the context of universal empathy. People who say “All Lives Matter” are not expressing empathy, and struggle to access theirs. It’s disingenuous, they DON’T think that all lives matter.
That’s the reason I hate that saying so much.
It’s just a true statement. All lives DO matter.
But the hateful sub-text of the saying basically poisons compassionate people against what, in a vacuum, is just a basic moral value I hold dear.
In an ideal world, BLM would have switched to chanting “All lives matter” without skipping a beat: Deny the assclowns their slogan, simultaneously say “yep we’re people, too, part of ‘all’, get used to it”, simultaneously, ally with other groups the US police walks all over, like neurodivergent folks.
In an ideal world black people would be treated with the same respect as everyone else and there wouldn’t be a need for BLM to exist in the first place. The reason for focusing on black people instead of everyone is because they aren’t treated equally. ‘All Lives Matter’ is a slogan to avoid acknowledging that black lives also matter.
Are neurodivergent folks treated equally, with equal consideration? “Existing while not being able to respond to BS demands” is a crime that exists in the US. There’s a bodycount to back that up, covering the whole spectrum of spectrum disorders.
That out of the way: Why give the enemy a slogan and exclude your allies? What possible gain would that bring about?
Because it was claimed by fascists. That’s the only reason it has that meaning. Because it was given up, not claimed by woke folks. Words, slogans, don’t have meaning in themselves the meaning only exists in context. “All lives matter” is a fascist slogan because it got chanted by fascists, not because it’s fascist in itself. If fascists shout “chocolate pudding is tasty”, what does that mean? I have no idea but it surely doesn’t bode well for black folks.
You don’t have to fucking explain to me that “All lives matter” got appropriated by fascists. I fucking know. I’m complaining about how BLM let it be appropriated, how the wider platform let victory be snatched away from under their fingertips by semiotic illiteracy that made MLK spin in his grave. Man was way ahead of <currentyear>.
If you think BLM let it be appropriated then you don’t understand how appropriation works.
There was a brief moment where “all lives matter” had no clear meaning, where the slogan still was up for grabs, where the fascists were still starting to rally while BLM was already in full swing. If, at that juncture, BLM had had the wherewithal to, as I already said, switch to chanting “all lives matter” without skipping a beat the few fascists already using it would have looked like actually supporting BLM. They would’ve backed off.
I’m vegan, too. But I don’t feel constrained that the utterance “All Lives Matter” now has negative connotations when delivered outside the context of universal empathy. People who say “All Lives Matter” are not expressing empathy, and struggle to access theirs. It’s disingenuous, they DON’T think that all lives matter.