Why All Lives Don’t Matter. This was posted on my Facebook wall in…
By: Rus. Nichols
Tags: BlackLivesMatter, Alllivesmatter, African American, Police Brutality, Asian American

This was posted on my Facebook wall in July 2016, but I still feel that sharing this perspective as an Asian American is relevant and important today:

I feel the need to finally address some issues that have been gnawing at me for quite some time now. I’ve seen a few articles addressing the confusing role that Asian Americans play in the Black Lives Matter movement. Some discuss the deafening silence we often choose to uphold in the face of injustice towards Black people, like the latest incidents of police brutality. This silence could be due to a number of reasons, but often, it is either that “I can’t relate because I am not Black and don’t happen to be close to anyone who is Black. Therefore it’s not really my problem.” Or perhaps it’s that traditional Asian culture has bred the idea that we are to align ourselves with White people so we remain “safe” and don’t become vilified ourselves. Both of which are total BS and is a different conversation altogether. In my case — and I’m sure I can’t be alone in this — I was simply afraid to say the wrong thing. After all, I’m not Black and could never fully understand the plight of the Black man or woman. It’s especially intimidating on a highly public and often hostile environment like the Internet, where your own words can be viciously used against you as a weapon later.

So a while back…I did say the wrong thing. I ended one of my posts about yet another ruthless murder of a Black man with #AllLivesMatter. I know. *CRINGE* I honestly didn’t give it enough thought at the time and am mortified in hindsight. But the fact that those were my first subconscious choice of words proves the problem. If you aren’t aware yet, saying “All lives matter” is highly offensive and insulting to Black people and undermines the Black Lives Matter movement. It completely ignores the fact that only Black people were enslaved for centuries and needed a civil rights movement just to be treated as HUMAN BEINGS. They are the only ones who need a hashtag to remind people of the value of their lives and are the only ones still being hunted by the system as aggressively as the stats tell us they are. As comedian Arthur Chu said, saying “All lives matter” is like showing up to a cancer fundraiser and yelling, “there are other diseases, too!”. Ok. But right now we’re talking about cancer so let us talk about that.

As many of you know, I’m married to a Black man and have a son who is half Black. Obviously, I don’t believe that I’m racist or entirely ignorant. But even with a Black husband and child, I — whether consciously or not — felt the need to play it safe and be PC or “inclusive” by saying #AllLivesMatter instead of taking a real stand. I’m not proud of it, but I think many of us — especially Asian Americans — fall into this camp. Though my first inclination is to find that post, immediately delete it and pretend it never happened, I chose to share so people realize that many of these seemingly innocent mistakes perpetuate the problem. And not talking about it perpetuates the problem. You don’t have to get on your soapbox on social media, but I really hope you are having this conversation somewhere, with someone. Because admitting we have a problem is the first step to recovery.