“Black lives matter” is a simple statement of fact. Black lives matter. It doesn’t offer any additional explicit meaning.
So if you think it means anything other than simply the lives of black people matter, you’re inferring.
For example, you’re inferring if you you think “Black Lives Matter” really means black lives matter but other lives don’t, or black lives matter more than other lives.
And you’re inferring incorrectly.
What evidence or reasoning are you inferring from?
Here’s what we have to base our inferences on:
- The meaning implied when people use the statement
- The context in which people use the statement
- The people who use the statement
- Our own preconceptions
The meaning implied when people use the statement
Obviously when people use a symbolic statement, they’re typically implying more than the explicit meaning within the statement. (Because powerful symbolic statements must be short and catchy, so they can’t say much explicitly, and instead usually tap into an undercurrent of social sentiment.)
So what are people implying when they say “Black Lives Matter”? Well, from all I’ve seen, they’ve been very clear. They’ve consistently said they’re implying the American judicial system does not value black lives highly enough. For example, here’s the first image I found when I Googled “Black Lives Matter”:
In fact, they also say that “Black Lives Matter” means a whole lot more than that. For instance, the About page of blacklivesmatter.com says this (click to zoom):
Clearly they’re using the statement “Black Lives Matter” to highlight the fact that black people are not treated as if they matter.
The context in which people use the statement
Obviously if a statement is tapping into a social undercurrent, then we need to examine that social undercurrent in order to infer anything about the statement.
The above About page describes the overarching context very well. But although the #BlackLivesMatter movement started in 2012, the “Black Lives Matter” statement has only seen a lot of airtime in mainstream media in recent months. Basically since the killing of unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri (in the US). This event was the catalyst that turned an established movement into a social undercurrent.
Brown has become the focal point of a desperate struggle against police brutality and its disproportionate impact on blacks. The Counted project illustrates it very effectively:
So the meaning we can draw from the context is the same as the meaning we can draw from what people imply when they use the statement. That black lives are currently undervalued by the police.
The people who repeat the statement
We can also learn something about popular statements and symbols by looking at the people who use them.
Millions of people have voiced the “Black Lives Matter” statement. Of all races, cultures, upbringings and socioeconomic standings. The only common thread I’ve seen is a desire for social justice and equality. Search Twitter, Facebook or Google+ for the #blacklivesmatter hashtag to see who’s voicing it. They’re not just black people, and they’re certainly not people who appear to value black lives over other lives.
So the only meaning you can draw from looking at the people who use the statement is that it’s about social justice and equality.
“But it devalues white lives!”… BULLSHIT!
If you still think “Black Lives Matter” devalues other lives, then you’re clearly not inferring from the evidence. The statement itself doesn’t explicitly say anything about other lives. The activists aren’t implying other lives are less valuable. The context supports the claim that black lives are undervalued. And there’s nothing about the people who say “Black Lives Matter” that suggests they value black lives over other lives.
So why would you jump to that conclusion?
The only possible reason is that you’re inferring from your own preconceptions. Another word for that is “prejudice”!:
A final note
No, I’m not saying that everyone who opposes the “Black Lives Matter” statement and movement is inferring incorrectly. For example, some people think it’s – perhaps intentionally – divisive (although for it to cause division, people must first make incorrect inferences). Some believe that racism doesn’t exist. Others simply believe black lives don’t matter. I’m sure there are other reasons for opposition too.
But if you believe the statement “Black Lives Matter” devalues other lives, there’s only one reason…
You want to believe that.
Dude!! I bow in awe at your ability to lay it out plain! I have never been able to fathom how anyone cold possibly infer fro #Blacklivesmatter that it is in anyway a form of what we white people like to call “reverse-racism” Anything that is not about whites, for whites, or trying to be about and for whites, is reverse-racism. I do prefer your term for it though…Bullshit!
Live long and have a massive amount of long lasting pleasurable (ribbed for her pleasure…but just turn it inside out) lurrv!
Greg
Thanks mate. Exactly right. And I love your signoff! 🙂
Another great post Glenn! I wish there was a whole wiki of intelligent, impartial articles like this telling it like it is on every devisive topic. Like a snopes for bullshit and trolling.
Great idea, Serena!
I am so glad I randomly found you. I’m an old white Anglo woman who could not agree with you more. It breaks my heart that in the 21st century we are where we are but it heartens me to read intelligent and sensitive articles like yours. Do you have a FB page? I would love to share your stuff directly (although) I do share your stuff as a copy.)
We need voices of reason such as yours to be seen by as many people as possible.
Hi Caroline. Thanks so much for your lovely comment. Very kind of you. Yes, it breaks my heart too, to see where we are. We have the potential to be so much better.
And yep, my Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/GlennMurraysPage 🙂
KAPOW!
Wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if Mr Media & Joe Bloggs were to discover and propagate this reality?
A girl can dream!
<3
Pia
Hi Pia. Thanks. A guy can dream too. 😉
Hi Glenn,
You highlight this important issue very well. Having lived in the U.S. for a number of years and visiting frequently I found the racial undercurrents that permeate all levels of their society most disconcerting and uncomfortable. But we are not without our own problems here. Sadly, I do not note improvements here or in the U.S. and wonder what the metrics of a clear improvement would be. Getting these issues on the agenda is certainly a key part of the solution as is education but it is not enough and I am not sure what “enough” looks like.
Thank you for your blog.
Regards
Steve
Hi Steve, thanks for your kind words. Yeah, I agree wholeheartedly. Australia suffers from chronic structural racism. So much so that most people don’t even see it. 🙁
Blacks are killed more by police per capita because they commit more crimes per capita, and thus have more encounters with police. It’s simple. Blacks, at 13% of the population, commit more than 50% of all murders and robberies, and more than 30% of all other types of crime other than arson and drink driving. (this from FBI table 43). Thus, they have more adversarial encounters with police, and thus are shot more by police. The police in America are indeed too violent and trigger happy; but they are more violent than they are irrationally racist.
‘Black Lives Matter’ is a hugely unpopular movement in the US for several reasons:
A) It only cares about black lives taken by white hands,
B) It springs from media manipulation and mis-reporting of important stories. For instance, in Ferguson, a 140kg black man punched a cop in the face, tried to grab his gun, ran away, and then turned around and came back charging; he was then shot to death by a cop who couldn’t aim very well (this is the story the physical forensic evidence conclusively tells, as Obama’s Department of Justice concluded earlier this year). Many black witnesses, apparently motivated by racial hatred, lied about what they saw, saying he was executed while standing still with his hands up; then everybody burned their own town down. This incident birthed ‘Black Lives Matter.’
C) several of its protests have openly chanted ‘kill the police’ type stuff and the organizers have not denounced this, and
D) Since ‘Black Lives Matter’ started, police in America have been demoralized, blacks have been riled up, and many, many more blacks have been murdered. Murder rates in several cities with significant black populations have exploded this year, such as Baltimore that has seen the highest murder rates in 40 years. ‘Black Lives Matter’ has saved no black people, and condemned hundreds to death by the hands of other blacks.
Why do Australians, most of whom have never been to the US and have no connection to the US, care so deeply about American domestic politics? It baffles me.
Having lived in both countries, and spent a quite lot of time in various black neighborhoods in large cities, I must say that Australia is very, very lucky that this group of people does not live here. I have many, many stories of violence, child abuse, and complete social dysfunction that I saw with my own eyes, and was the target of violence myself because of the color of my skin in the wrong neighborhood. Every black-majority city in America is a high-crime, physically destroyed mess; I know of no counter examples.
Australians, who mostly receive all their information from controlled media, have no idea what it’s really like in America.
Hi Alex. Thanks for your comment.
Yes, it’s true that blacks are disproportionately involved in crime. You say (without references) that they commit more than 50% of all murders and robberies and more than 30% of other types of crime. But you don’t provide any context for those numbers. And context is all-important. Blacks are 2-3 times as likely to be killed by police than whites; are they committing 2-3 times the crime that whites are committing?
What’s more, you’ve overlooked the fact that blacks are, for instance, more than twice as likely to be searched for drugs during a vehicular stop (even though they’re 26% less likely to be carrying drugs), twice as likely to receive a citation, and more than twice as likely to be arrested. And if they are arrested, they’re more than twice as likely to die afterwards. You’ve also overlooked the fact that that blacks killed by cops are twice as likely as whites to be unarmed.
Re the rest of your claims:
A) No, as explained above, ‘Black Lives Matter’ does not care only about black lives taken by white hands. Merely re-asserting your belief does not make it fact.
B) No, BLM does not spring from misreporting. It springs from facts. Your anecdote about the 140kg black man punching a cop in the face is, sadly, no more than that. An anecdote. And even had you provided references, it would still be an isolated case.
C) I’m sure you’re right that some protesters chant about killing the police. But again, you’ve provided no references re that claim or the claim that organizers haven’t denounced it. This is a very common attack on protesters. I took part in several ‘March in March’ protests in Australia, and the reporting on those events was at best completely unbalanced, and at worst, simply false. I’m sure the same happens in the US.
D) Are you serious? Police are justified in killing blacks because they’re feeling ‘demoralized’?! And that’s somehow BLM’s fault? Wow!
E) Why do Australians care? Because some people believe that we should all care about people everywhere. About humanity. And because Australia tends to follow in America’s footsteps, as it’s doing with police militarisation and for-profit, private prisons.
F) Simply pointing to crime rates in black-majority cities doesn’t prove anything. Again, you need to ask why the crime rates are higher there. (And again, I note you’ve provided no references or comparisons. E.g. Do poor white cities have high crime rates? Places where whites use a lot of drugs? Or where they suffer systemic racism… oh wait, that never happens…
G) Thanks for your claim that I have received my information from controlled media only. Again, completely baseless and without references.
SOURCES:
http://qz.com/356013/ferguson-is-what-happens-when-you-run-a-police-force-as-a-profit-making-business/
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/being-arrested-is-nearly-twice-as-deadly-for-african-americans-as-whites/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-reifowitz/african-americans-killed_b_7510874.html?ir=Australia
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32740523
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/01/us-police-killings-this-year-black-americans
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/01/black-americans-killed-by-police-analysis
Hi Glenn
I always enjoy your articles, written with reason and intelligence. Unfortunately, something lacking in the mainstream media when it comes to such issues. I have shared this article along with your piece on Boat People, The Media and Government are lying. Unfortunately, even when you give people the facts, many refuse to accept it as fact. Keep on writing, you always inspire me to not give up on those who are so marginalised in our society. If you are looking for something to write about, I would love to hear your views on what it is like for young people in Australia in the current welfare system considering a recent study revealed 75% of those on welfare are currently living below the poverty line which is a disturbing finding.
Whatever you choose to write about next, Im sure I will learn from it.
Kind Regards
Julie
Thanks Julie. That means a lot. I’m just a regular person trying to make a difference, so hearing that I am, even if only a little, is very heartening. You have a great day! 🙂
Blacks commit a disproportionate amount of violent crime, as reported by victimization surveys where the victims of crimes report the race (and gender, and age) of the perpetrator of crimes. (see reference) This is a valid explanation for their disproportionate involvement in violent confrontations with law enforcement.
Reference: http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=942
Criminal Victimization in the United State — Statistical Tables, 2006
Victims and offenders (PDF), page 28 and 29.
Hi John. Thanks for your comment. I Googled the data you referred to (here’s the proper link: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cvus0602.pdf), and I think you may be misreading it. From what I can tell, table 46 shows that whites are more violent than blacks. Whites commit 37.6% of violent crimes and blacks commit 33.0%.
Also, I think that table refers to violent crimes with multiple offenders (e.g. 3 attackers), and it measures only whether ALL the attackers in the offending group were black or all were white.
Table 40, on the other hand, appears to record the race of single offenders in violent crimes. It shows whites to be more than twice as violent (59% of violent crimes committed by a white person vs 22.4% committed by a black person).
Please let me know if I’m misreading something. It seems strange that you would refer to statistics that seem to illustrate exactly the opposite of your point, so I’m concerned that I may have misinterpreted something.
EDIT:
I had a closer look at the data and re-read your comment, and I believe I may have misinterpreted what you were saying.
Yes, blacks are over-represented among violent criminals. And yes, it’s possible that this partially accounts for their over-representation among people killed by police. But it’s definitely not a certain explanation.
Whites commit 42.9% of violent crime but 50.7% of all people killed by police are white
Blacks commit 22.4% of violent crime but 26.58% of all people killed by police are black
If involvement in violent crime were the only/main explanation of killings by police, then you’d expect about 43% of people killed by police to be white and about 22% to be black. That’s not the case, so there are obviously other factors at play.
To know more, we’d have to know how many blacks are actually killed by police while committing a violent crime or while in police custody after committing a violent crime.
It’s also worth noting that nearly a quarter (24.75%) of the blacks killed by police were unarmed, as compared with 17.65% whites.
SOURCES:
http://www.amren.com/news/2015/07/new-doj-statistics-on-race-and-violent-crime/ (haven’t found the original yet)
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counted-police-killings-us-database
Sorry, just look for Table 46, the page numbers are not right.