davidwr's Journal: On the topic of the phrase "Black Lives Matter"

When someone says "Black lives matter" I generally assume good faith* and assume they really mean something like:

"All lives matter, but recent events show that at least a few people think that some lives - specifically Black lives - matter less than others. Rather than taking the time to say 'Hey dude, yes, you Mr. Cop who shot a Black man without a good reason, you need to treat Black people with the same respect as non-Black people' I'm going to use the much shorter, fits-on-a-bumper-sticker phrase 'Black Lives Matter'".

* As with just about all human behavior, there will be the rare case where the assumption of good faith was not warranted. But this is rare.