# Black Lives Matter... A flawed phrase **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 9, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-lives-matter-a-flawed-phrase/759450 "2016-07-09T01:58:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-lives-matter-a-flawed-phrase/759450/101 "2016-07-11T14:26:21Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’m not saying anything is that simple. And I don’t think it’s about indulging the willfully ignorant. We have to realize that the willfully ignorant exist and avoid turning this into a battle between sides. Stop arguing the cause, I’m talking about the effectiveness of the message here. It can be improved. What you need to realize is that the messaging is always used to detract from the real issues. I’m sure the same quibbling occured when slavery was being debated (“If only they called themselves something softer than ‘abolitionists’…such a negative, scary word!”) and when women’s right to vote became a hot topic (“Suffragete”? But none of the women I know are suffering!"). And how often do we see people getting hung up on the word “feminism” by choosing to interpret the word in the most uncharitable way imaginable? At a certain point, it becomes clear that this “confusion” has nothing at all to do with language and all to do with negative reactions people have when told things they don’t want to accept. Legitimizing this classic diversionary tactic by acting like our energy should actually be focused on wordsmithing rather than rallying for changes only plays into the hands of those who are pro status quo. We could spend hours trying to perfect the black lives matter slogans and I guarrantee it will not stop those wearing blinders to continue to do so. If literally seeing Tamir Rice gunned down wasn’t enough to wake up America, words in a goddamn Twitter feed will not. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-lives-matter-a-flawed-phrase/759450/102 "2016-07-11T14:27:12Z")
Those who are bothered by the perceived meaning of “Black Lives Matter” - how do you feel about “Blue Lives Matter”? Should that ALSO be “Blue Lives Matter _Too_”? Would you also correct them to “All Lives Matter”? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-lives-matter-a-flawed-phrase/759450/103 "2016-07-11T14:32:50Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > Those who are bothered by the perceived meaning of “Black Lives Matter” - how do you feel about “Blue Lives Matter”? Should that ALSO be “Blue Lives Matter _Too_”? Would you also correct them to “All Lives Matter”? Yes. Both are implying that I do not believe what I do believe. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-lives-matter-a-flawed-phrase/759450/104 "2016-07-11T14:32:59Z")
**TriPolar** , do you also object to the [American Jewish Congress](http://www.ajcongress.org/) for the same reason that you object to Black Lives Matter? Have you even been to the [BLM site](http://blacklivesmatter.com/guiding-principles/) to read it’s mission statement, goals and objectives? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-lives-matter-a-flawed-phrase/759450/105 "2016-07-11T14:39:15Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > The main point here is that it is clearly the fault of black people, in not precisely enough formulating a concise slogan that addresses their concerns about the disproportionate killing of black people by police, that white people are struggling to comprehend those concerns. As phrased, the slogan “Black Lives Matter” is too offputting and leads white people to believe that their own feelings on the matter are in some way not as important as other people’s. > > I understand there’s already a similar thread in which feminists are admonished for using language that renders men incapable of adopting a position of gender equality. If only all these black people and women would take the time to be more careful with their words, white people and men would totally be on board with helping to effect the societal changes needed to achieve the societal changes needed. > > I think I just poked my tongue through my cheek Is Poe’s Law meant to be applied to this post? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-lives-matter-a-flawed-phrase/759450/106 "2016-07-11T16:29:20Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Is Poe’s Law meant to be applied to this post? [Of course not.](http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/b/b0/Sarcasm_Detector_exploding.png/revision/latest?cb=20150903212721) For those unwilling or unable to clicky linky, it’s a picture of Frink’s exploding Sarcasm Detector from The Simpsons ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-lives-matter-a-flawed-phrase/759450/107 "2016-07-11T16:54:03Z")
Kowalski, remember our little talk about true but unhelpful comments? It is true that all lives matter, but considering that black people are the ones being murdered by cops, they deserve the bulk of our attention. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-lives-matter-a-flawed-phrase/759450/108 "2016-07-11T17:28:53Z")
Lol, when I mentioned hang ups over the word “suffragette” and I didn’t realize the extent of it. [This](http://time.com/4079176/suffragette-word-history-film/)article shows that there’s nothing new under the sun regarding the way folk’s allow their knickers to be twisted over the activist handles. > [@from the article](#): > > The word [“suffragette”] might be used to mock them, and it might have connotations of disapproval, **but it was also associated with action, disruption and demanding to be heard no matter the cost.** “There’s not actually a lot of daylight between what’s being denigrated and what’s being embraced,” says Oxford’s Martin. “They were being criticized for something they were deliberately doing.” They were not, for instance, storming Parliament by accident. > > So instead of ignoring it, many women decided to reclaim a word that their opponents tried to use to insult them, much like the LGBT community has adopted queer, Democrats have embraced Obamacare and women now proudly rap about being bad bitches. **Their success is partly evident in the fact that, over time, people have forgotten the controversial connotations of the word, using it to describe any supporter of women’s suffrage in any country. “The word has become much more generalized in memory,” says Martin.** Black Lives Matter will go down in history the same way. And everyone who uses the BLM’s branding to excuse their failure to care about abusive policing will look as backwards and shallow as the centenarians who still say the connotation of “suffragettes” was a barrier to their support for female voting rights back in the day. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-lives-matter-a-flawed-phrase/759450/109 "2016-07-11T23:03:32Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > The ingenuousness of these law students might a subject of some debate, but [here’s a group](http://i.imgur.com/zkaWAFV.jpg) that appears to take that meaning of it after their professor wore a BLM shirt: About as ingenuous as the Dartmouth College Republicans who sincerely wanted to celebrate Law Enforcement Week with a Blue Lives Matter display. I guess I’m becoming cynical but I have to think it was to provoke an incident, and it worked. [http://thedartmouth.com/2016/05/13/display-removed-in-collis-replaced-with-blacklivesmatter-posters/](http://thedartmouth.com/2016/05/13/display-removed-in-collis-replaced-with-blacklivesmatter-posters/) ---
**Author:** ![Krouget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b38774/32.png) [@Krouget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krouget)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-lives-matter-a-flawed-phrase/759450/110 "2016-07-12T13:57:06Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Has anyone said you have to choose between ‘grass is green’ and ‘lettuce is green’? BLM says you have to choose between ‘black lives matter’ and ‘all lives matter’. You keep saying this, but I’ve seen no evidence of it, besides your anecdotal claim. [Anyway, my contribution to the thread.](http://chainsawsuit.com/comic/2016/07/07/all-houses-matter-the-extended-cut/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-lives-matter-a-flawed-phrase/759450.md?page=5)