When I first heard the slogan “Black Lives Matter,” I thought, “Well, obviously… of course, because all lives matter.”
With the horror of the very public murder of George Floyd and the discussions that have followed, my initial misapprehension of the Black Lives Matter movement became clear.
I had missed the point: White lives mattering has been institutionalized in our country since the beginning.
Black lives mattering has not.
In fact the insidious opposite of mattering has been the norm.
Biased policing, murders, mass incarceration, voting rights shenanigans, unequal opportunities across the board… the list goes on.
The fact that moves me most is that in our country, compared to a white woman, a Black woman is two and a half times as likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth.
This consequence of institutionalized racism is utterly unacceptable.
Mr. Floyd’s murder has shocked us into realizing that obviously and with tragic consequences Black lives have not mattered enough to erase the differences between how we live, grow, and thrive in our country.
It’s time we wake up, splash some cold water on our faces, and realize that in neglecting the rights and dignity of Black lives we have accrued a debt that is far past due – and the staggering interest continues to mount.
Only with decisive and focused effort will we begin to pay off this debt.
Craig Chambers
Port Townsend