# Whose life matters? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 25, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663 "2016-10-25T04:00:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/21 "2016-10-25T13:07:44Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > The term was coined in response to the feeling that nobody seemed to care when black people were killed. It’s “black lives matter (too)” not “black lives matter (only).” Bingo. Compare with “blue lives matter.” Barring a major calamity between now and year’s end, fewer police will have died on account of their jobs in the 2012-2016 period than in any five-year period since 1957-1961. And that’s straight-up numbers, unadjusted for the fact that the U.S. population then was 55% of what it is now, and presumably with a comparably smaller number of law enforcement personnel. Once you adjust for that, police are safer now than they’ve been since the 1800s. If blue lives don’t _already_ matter, the stats have a funny way of showing it. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2016, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/22 "2016-10-25T13:19:19Z")
If someone said to me: “Black lives matter”, and then stuck a microphone in my face for a response, I might say: “Yes, they do, Captain Obvious.” And if those who would respond: “All lives matter” would practice what they preach, it might not have ever occurred to anyone to need to remind us that Black lives matter. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/23 "2016-10-25T13:42:50Z")
I could say “Yes, Black Lives Matter. All lives should matter but we haven’t acted as if we meant that and Black Lives Matter has highlighted where we have failed in that regard”. There are many ways to state it without disregarding the concept of the movement. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/24 "2016-10-25T13:48:22Z")
No lives matter. Vote Cthulhu 2016 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/25 "2016-10-25T14:44:37Z")
Cystic Fibrosis matters. If you support finding better treatments for a specific disease that causes a lot of problems, you should support finding better treatments for a specific ethnic group that has a lot of problems. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/26 "2016-10-25T14:54:27Z")
Proudly voted “Get that microphone out of my face” I’m not about to be a convenient sound clip that you’ll take out of context to villify me. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/27 "2016-10-25T15:17:52Z")
“Black lives Matter” is intended to convey a very specific point. Too bad skilled message handlers hadn’t been involved in developing the saying, but it is what it is. As others have said here, the point is that black lives are being unnecessarily lost and that needs to stop. When we get to the realization that other lives are being unnecessarily lost and that needs to stop, a new (hopefully better crafted) phrase will be needed. But right now, the issue BLM talks to is blacks being killed unnecessarily. Changing the phrase to something else explicitly changes the meaning. Again, it could have been better crafted, but the message is clear and changing the words changes the meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/28 "2016-10-25T15:24:23Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > It \*is \*wrong. Wow, Shodan goes on record to say that the statement Black Lives Matter is wrong. Good to know. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/29 "2016-10-25T15:30:20Z")
For the reasons stated, yes. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/30 "2016-10-25T16:01:37Z")
I picked “I’m wearing the t-shirt”, but easily could have picked “Yes, Black Lives Matter” or “Of course they do”. As stated, all lives SHOULD matter in our society, but they don’t - especially not black lives. Hence the need for the movement. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/31 "2016-10-25T16:04:02Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > For the reasons stated, yes. > > Regards, > Shodan Are you familiar with the concept of “[whitesplaining](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Whitesplain)”? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/32 "2016-10-25T16:08:35Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Nobody’s. I’ll go basically this with the qualifier that everyone pretty much matters (or not) equally. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/33 "2016-10-25T16:25:15Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Are you familiar with the concept of “[whitesplaining](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Whitesplain)”? Yes, I am. Are you familiar with the concept of “not giving much of a shit about it?” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/34 "2016-10-25T17:03:26Z")
All lives matter. But the Black Lives Matter movement didn’t arise out of nothing. It arose in response to an ongoing situation where black people are being killed at a highly disproportionate rate in comparison to white people. So this is a specific problem that needs to be specifically addressed. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/35 "2016-10-25T17:14:59Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Black people in the US are shot by police disproportionately because black people in the US are disproportionately involved in violent crime. Black people get busted for drugs disproportionately because black people tend to live in areas which are high-crime, and therefore have a greater police presence. The rest of the complaints are mostly selective perception, and anecdotal. When some white guy in a cowboy hat waves a gun around and openly declares his intent to defy the law, the police step back and open negotiations to resolve the problem peacefully without anyone getting hurt. A lot of black people have been shot within the first few minutes of the police encountering them because the police suspected they might have committed a crime and they might have a weapon. Why do the police apply a different standard to white and black suspects? ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/36 "2016-10-25T17:34:04Z")
I voted “of course they do” on the basis that the response “all lives matter” (which is also true) could be interpreted as belittling the cause of equal rights. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/37 "2016-10-25T17:40:28Z")
“What the fuck? Get out of here!” I have no urge to be ambushed on any topic. I’d treat it the same as if they said “fetuses matter -”. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/38 "2016-10-25T18:04:28Z")
My response to BLM is that yes, of course black lives matter. I don’t see the controversy. Does anyone actually believe that the majority, or even significant sample size of opinion is that black lives \*don’t \*matter? Truth be told, I also don’t see the controversy of “all lives matter.” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/39 "2016-10-25T18:21:39Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > Truth be told, I also don’t see the controversy of “all lives matter.” It shouldn’t be controversial. I recall Bernie Sanders saying that when BLM took over his stage, and I’m sure he didn’t mean anything except to affirm what they were saying. Unfortunately it’s also turned into denial, as if to say that there is no specific issue here. The trouble is that there’s a reasonableness to saying All Lives Matter but once reasonable words enter the arena of political sloganeering everything can go awry. So to innocently say All Lives Matter shouldn’t be controversial, but there are also assholes who use that phrase meaning Black Lives Don’t Matter That Much. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663/40 "2016-10-25T18:27:05Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Yeah! black wives matter! But, apparently, not the skinny ones. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whose-life-matters/769663.md?page=3)