Black Lives Matter

Most of those causes of death are in the top ten for people of all races, Not just black people, And as far as I know don't really need to be addressed differently depending on race. There are a lot of campaigns already for things like heart disease and cancer and strokes, Representing sufferers of those conditions regardless of race. I don't think it makes much of a difference to heart attack prevention what race you are, Except as mediated by poverty rates. And I've heard BLM speak out against racially motivated homicides other than police shootings, Too, Like George Zimmerman's shooting of Treyvon Martin. Plus, I think you're falling a bit into a fallacy, Here. People don't have to choose only one issue to care about, So saying "X isn't a big concern because Y is worse" is a fallacy. It's possible to consider both X and Y serious concerns. Can you point to an example of a black cop shooting a black person that you think BLM didn't address seriously enough? Regarding your stats: In 2018, 42% of unarmed men shot by police were black men. This is roughly three times the rate that would be expected based on the general population stats. And this isn't just some random bad luck like getting cancer or something, This is human beings deliberately killing other human beings. Those deaths were all preventable. And yet, Very little is being done by the police force to prevent future shootings of this type. I do think mental illness and police shootings should be talked about more. I feel that this is a similar issue to racially-linked shootings, In that people who are really not a threat are being shot for reasons related to prejudice. And it's especially bad for people who are both black and mentally ill. Plus, Those deaths are the tip of the iceberg. How many black people have died because they didn't trust the police to help when someone victimized them? How many black people have been wrongfully searched, Arrested, Or convicted? How many black people have been taught to fear for their lives whenever they interact with a police officer? How many would have been killed if not for them quietly accepting wrongful searches/arrests, Or without white witnesses or bystanders getting involved? (I have heard of several stories of white allies intervening when they saw a situation brewing and being able to defuse it. ) Re: #2 OK, Yes, That is terrible. Re: #3, I actually think a lot of those are good ideas. (Although I can't parse what #8 and #9 in her list means. Also, Where is she supposed to be advocating violence? ) It's not about treating black people as helpless, But about reversing the ongoing effects of historical racism. Many of the rich, Predominantly or exclusively white communities are not white by chance, But because when those communities were founded, It was literally illegal to sell or rent to non-white people in those communities. Many white people even received grants to help them pay for nice homes in nice neighborhoods and other boons, Which again were not allowed to be awarded to non-white people. Several generations later, Most of the people living in those neighborhoods are still the descendants of the people who received these white-only benefits, And they have inherited wealth in part because their ancestors got these unfair advantages. Furthermore, With schools funded by local property taxes, Having rich neighbors as a child means you get a better quality education, And therefore more opportunities to get ahead in life. Hard work matters, But it doesn't erase privilege. It's like starting a race 10 feet ahead or behind of someone else - if you're both running just as fast, The person who started ahead will end ahead, No matter what. Similarly, A kid going to an overcrowded, Underfunded inner city school with cheap outdated equipment and textbooks might work just as hard if not harder than a kid going to a rich school with a well-stocked science lab, Lots of one-on-one teacher time and brand new, High-quality textbooks, But no amount of hard work will erase the advantages that come from going to a better school. Not to mention how often friendships made in rich schools end up leading directly to business opportunities later on - if you're a young computer programmer looking for work, And your high school buddy is the son of the CEO of a software company, That means you might be offered the job without it even being advertised, Or have a considerable advantage over other applicants if it is advertised. Giving homes in these rich white neighborhoods to impoverished non-white families *will* change this inequality. It'll allow their kids to get the kind of education rich people get, And to form connections with kids from rich families, And that *will* help them get ahead more easily than if they stayed in the slums. Plus, Statistically speaking, Unless you become a crime boss, Make the invention of the century or win the lottery *and* know how to play the investment game extremely well, If you're born to a poor family in a poor neighborhood, You will never be rich no matter how hard you work. (Nearly all US presidents are descended from crime bosses, Incidentally. ) The 'American Dream' is a lie used to keep the lower classes complacent. It probably does feel better if you think you succeeded on your own rather than being helped. But it's an illusion - no one succeeds without help. Privilege means being able to take that help for granted and maintain the illusion that you got to where you are solely through your own effort. Researchers have found that entering grade 1 with better pre-academic skills, Such as counting and reciting the alphabet, Strongly predicts how well you read by grade 3, And how well you read at grade 3 strongly predicts your likelihood of graduating high school. And most of the variation in grade 1 kids' pre-academic skills has nothing to do with their smarts or how hard they work - it's down to whether they went to a good-quality kindergarten or pre-K program, How much they were read to by adults (which depends on daycare quality, How much free time their parents have, Etc), And how much and what kind of TV they watched (kids who watch TV rarely and mostly only kids' shows like Sesame Street do better than kids who watch a ton of adult-oriented TV - and exhausted, Overworked parents struggling to make ends meet are less likely to monitor their child's TV intake or provide alternate sources of amusement). Nutrition, Too, Makes a difference - kids who eat healthy and don't miss meals (especially breakfast) have better cognitive function and ability to focus. And if you've fallen behind in a race because someone shot you in the leg, Wouldn't it make sense to demand that someone help you catch up?