# Should a White man, let alone a White person care about Black Lives Matter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 27, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540 "2020-07-27T21:47:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankees_1996_Champs)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/1 "2020-07-27T21:47:39Z")
If they have no Black friends or acquaintances, live in a 85%-100% all white town, go to work with majority white people, they don’t care for the issue of criminal justice although criminal justice issues affect EVERY person in the world, not only America, they have White privilege but don’t know it or even care to know or to understand. Most white people I know that are the most dismissive or even snicker about BLM are white men. They laugh at it, snicker at it, or dismiss the issue. People should care about other people, we are all human in the eyes of God, but should a white person care about the movement and the core issues of it or no? ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/2 "2020-07-27T21:59:20Z")
**President Josiah ‘Jed’ Bartlet:** Why is a Kundunese life worth less to me than an American life? **Will Bailey:** I don’t know, sir, but it is. You can play with that context and substitute the subject almost universally, and that can get you into some pretty dark and unsavoury places. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/3 "2020-07-27T22:05:06Z")
Well, the opposite of “care about Black Lives Matter” is “be entirely cool with the abuse and murder of black people”. So, I’d say that the reason for a white person to care about Black Lives Matter is “morality”. However I will acknowledge that other people define “morality” differently than I. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/4 "2020-07-27T22:10:54Z")
To paraphrase the OP: “White men don’t give a shit about anything but white men.” Well, quelle surprise and film at eleven. To answer the titular question, yes. Also “duh.” ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/5 "2020-07-27T22:14:49Z")
> [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](#): > > People should care about other people, we are all human in the eyes of God, but should a white person care about the movement and the core issues of it or no? Absolutely. If society allows one group of people to be abused, degraded, mistreated, or otherwise treated as second-class then all of us in all the other different groups - yes, even those currently privileged in some manner - are at risk of being the underdog at some point. Aside from ethics and morality and such - which is what actually motivates me - there is the enlightened self-interest that insisting all are treated fairly without exception ensures that I will be treated fairly without exception. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/6 "2020-07-27T22:49:07Z")
Disclaimer, general “you” used throughout this post. If you care about your fellows humans, you should care about BLM. If you care a about a government mistreating your fellow humans, you should care about BLM. If you care about YOUR government systematically mistreating YOUR fellow countrymen, you should care about BLM. If you find yourself not caring because you don’t have any black friends, then you are a fucking ignorant racist shitbag, whether you meant to be or not. And if you do nothing to stop being one, then you are an asshole ignorant racist shitbag that is ok with a tyrannical government…YOUR tyrannical government, mistreating YOUR fellow humans and Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/7 "2020-07-27T22:51:34Z")
So what’s the difference between a white man and a white person? Because your thread title says, “Should a white man, let alone a white person care about Black Lives Matter”. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/8 "2020-07-27T22:57:01Z")
Here we go again. Wheeeeeee! ---
**Author:** ![kswiss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@kswiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kswiss)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/9 "2020-07-27T23:07:02Z")
I have a dream that one day we will all just be Americans. But we aren’t there yet. If I can be obnoxiously racist about it, If we didn’t oppress the black man, he wouldn’t live in poverty, if he didn’t live in poverty, he wouldn’t be a criminal. So it it would behoove White men to care about black lives mattering, then you wouldn’t have to freak out if a black man moved next door to you or if you saw one walking down your street. Probably save tax dollars that we spend on prisons/police. ---
**Author:** ![kswiss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@kswiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kswiss)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/10 "2020-07-27T23:11:37Z")
To put it another way, if we all prosper, society will be better. ---
**Author:** ![Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankees_1996_Champs)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/11 "2020-07-27T23:11:52Z")
I’m not talking about me. I’m talking about the average suburban white man who is numb or indifferent to the movement. It’s a hypothetical question ---
**Author:** ![kswiss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@kswiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kswiss)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/12 "2020-07-27T23:14:16Z")
> [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](#): > > I’m talking about the average suburban white man Thats who I am referring to ---
**Author:** ![barkodogo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/barkodogo/32/3911_2.png) [@barkodogo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barkodogo)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/13 "2020-07-27T23:21:54Z")
Should you care about child sex-trafficking rings despite not knowing any children? If there’s injustice happening somewhere that you wouldn’t want happening to you, it seems worth caring about. It’s an extension of the golden rule: if you don’t want it to happen to you, don’t let it happen to other people. In my experience a lot of the people I’ve met that dismiss or deride BLM have a chip on their shoulder about their lot in life. They take “I have to struggle and I’m not complaining” to an unnatural extension where it means “I don’t get help, therefore no one should get help unless I get it too.” This also seems like a massive distraction! You, 99% of white men, are also oppressed. A black person carries that oppression _plus_ the oppression levied due to their race. Would you go back in time and want to deal with your problems _and_ be black on top of that? Some would argue that racial issues (along with political affiliation, gender, sexual preference, and religion) are a distraction among the lower classes that holds all of us back. If we could remove the injustices that only affect some of us, then we’d have more power to fight the injustices that affect all of us. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/14 "2020-07-27T23:36:33Z")
Uh huh. You tell all those “average suburban white” men, that you apparently know all about, exactly what I said when you talk to them again. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/15 "2020-07-27T23:38:49Z")
> [@Yankees\_1996\_Champs](#): > > People should care about other people, we are all human in the eyes of God, but should a white person care about the movement and the core issues of it or no? It’s very likely that most white people have benefited from racist practices, and those benefits came at the expense of opportunities for black people. For example, if a white and black person were up for a job, the white person would get an interview and the black person would be ignored. You personally may not be racist, but you should realize that your position in life is likely because of racist oppression in some fashion. An empathetic person will have some sympathy for the oppressed people and will try to help them overcome that. I saw this comic and thought it did a good job of showing this issue: [![](https://i2.wp.com/leftycartoons.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2008/07/concise.png?resize=675%2C553) ](https://i2.wp.com/leftycartoons.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2008/07/concise.png?resize=675%2C553) ---
**Author:** ![kswiss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@kswiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kswiss)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/16 "2020-07-27T23:41:59Z")
Just saying, as a practical matter, if you are dealing with a white male who doesn’t care about black lives, maybe even explicitly racist, there are pros to not subjugating black people. ---
**Author:** ![Jay\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Jay\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Z)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/17 "2020-07-27T23:42:05Z")
If a white man identifies as Christian or as a follower of the same moral code, than yes. The New Testament is very specific and consistent in that regard. That a racist may identify as Christian does not mean that he is following the Bible correctly. Christianity, you’re really supposed to care about everyone, every race. Critics of Christianity will do better to attack the excesses of the creedal aspects like the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition. Killing people who don’t believe the same thing you do does get to the heart of the religion. Racism doesn’t and is antithetical to it, despite however many have acted otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/18 "2020-07-27T23:45:24Z")
Yes. Next question? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/19 "2020-07-27T23:47:44Z")
I am a suburban white man and I care about the movement and its success in achieving its aims. Why this thinly-veiled insult towards white suburbanites? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540/20 "2020-07-28T00:24:56Z")
First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-white-man-let-alone-a-white-person-care-about-black-lives-matter/916540.md?page=2)