Black lives did not matter when they were inhumanely transported (open in new tab) from Africa like livestock; Black lives did not matter when they were lynched by the KKK by the hundreds (open in new tab). Black lives did not matter when black people were attacked by dogs (open in new tab) protesting for equal rights.

Weekly news reports include the death of at least one black boy at the hands of police (opens in new tab), the body of a black woman thrown to the ground by local law enforcement (opens in new tab), the rough treatment of black children by the services that protect them (opens in new tab), which always seems to include. [When Nancy Pelosi was asked by student Sherri Ward at an MSNBC town hall last year whether she supported the "Black Lives Matter" movement, Pelosi's response was all too familiar. Her remarks revealed the disappointment of the young black woman who asked the question and the disappointment of the tired black community.

As someone who is constantly subjected to the howl "but all lives matter" and the heated conversation that inevitably follows, let me explain: "Black Lives Matter" is not a term of confrontation or an exclusive demand. As Columbia Law Professor Kimberle Crenshaw explains, saying that black lives matter is "merely aspirational," a cry for a change in the statistical numbers that show that blacks are twice as likely to be killed by police officers while unarmed (opens in new tab) than whites (opens in new tab). 2015 study found that African Americans died at the hands of police at a rate of 7.2 per million (opens in new tab) and whites at a rate of 2.9 per million.

Anyone who has kept any kind of pulse on civil rights or the human condition of blacks in the United States since the transatlantic slave trade will understand the need to emphasize the protection of black bodies. It is the white community that has enjoyed the luxury of ignoring this particular issue. White society has enjoyed the privilege of not questioning on a large scale whether the system in which they live is detrimental to their lives based on the color of their skin.

But with the rise of the "Black Lives (Open with New Tab)" movement, they suddenly became aware of the intersection between race and surviving police encounters. Instead of exploring why such a movement is necessary, many respond with a knee-jerk reaction. 'What about myself? All lives matter," they exclaim. 'Why is it divisive and unjust? What these people fail to see is that the majority of the experience here in the United States already tends to center, emphasize, and care for the safety of whiteness. This country is built to function that way. The roots of white supremacy and marginalized concern for people of color remain.

Today, when we see the brutality and murder of black Americans like George Floyd and Briona Taylor, we are still trying to convince ourselves that black lives matter.

But let's return to the issue of countering Black Lives Matter with the phrase "All Lives Matter." I have come to describe this as collective gaslighting from the white community. Gaslighting (open in new tab) is a tactic by which a person or group, in order to gain more power (or in this case, their own peace of mind), causes their victims to question their reality. Why do those who oppose Black Lives Matter act as if Black people are unaware of the glaring and disproportionate statistics of police brutality, medical discrimination, and mass incarceration? It does not make it any less true if you decide to ignore it for your own comfort.

Suppose a patient is brought to the ER after an accident and points to his soggy leg and says, "Here's what's important now,"

"Especially when their library is already well-funded.

This is because there is a basic understanding that when the most painful and least protected parts of society are cared for, the entire system benefits. For some reason, the white community in the U.S. wants this country to move forward into a true land of justice for all by adjusting the blinders it has set against racism, rather than confronting it.

To be clear, just because we state that black lives matter does not imply that other lives do not matter. Of course, all lives matter. That goes without saying. But the fact that whites take so much umbrage at the words that black lives matter is proof that nothing can be central to the well-being and lives of blacks without whites deciding that it is their own undoing.

A personal message to those who are committed to saying "all lives matter" in the justice-based work of the "Black lives matter" movement: prove it. Point out how our society, especially the institutions set up to protect citizens like police officers, doctors, and elected officials, work to serve and protect black lives. Identify instances where the lives of the black community were prioritized, given our disadvantaged circumstances in the first place. Show evidence of justice for the bodies discarded at the hands of those in power, whether it be wrongful murder (opens in new tab), incarceration (opens in new tab), poisoned water (opens in new tab), or medical discrimination (opens in new tab).

These must be corrected if we are to be able to exhale. Until then, I will stay here, shaking my black fist and humming Black Lives Matter.