Black Lives Matter movement needs everyone’s help at SDSU
October 28, 2015
According to The Guardian, 940 people have died at the hands of police in the U.S. in 2015.
Of those 940 victims, 228 were black — roughly 25 percent, which is higher than any other racial minority in the U.S.
This is why we need Black Lives Matter, especially at a predominantly white campus like San Diego State.
“When it comes to diversity, obviously SDSU could do better,” said Najja Wilson, member of SDSU’s African Student Union. “I think the lack of diversity and activism on campus often makes black students feel less accepted because other ethnic groups do not understand things that matter to us, such as the Black Lives Matter movement.”
All too often, victims of this racial violence simply become another hashtag on social media and nothing really happens or changes.
And with each Tweet, each protest and each death, there seem to always be some people who counter the proclamation of “Black Lives Matter” with “All Lives Matter.”
“I have heard it many times just from wearing my Black Lives Matter pin,” freshman Chidera Ezeani said. “White people on campus ask me, ‘Well, why doesn’t my life matter too?’ They constantly miss the point and it is frustrating. I definitely feel like we need to work on changing the atmosphere on campus so everyone sees the struggles of one ethnic group as a collective struggle.”
What many fail to realize is that Black Lives Matter doesn’t suggest any race’s life matters less.
Rather it serves to uplift and advocate for equality for a community that is disproportionately impacted by racial discrimination and police brutality.
“All lives do matter,” senior Juwan Armstrong said. “However, we are focused on the black ones right now because historically our lives have not, and as of right now our lives still do not — we are under attack. As a young black man, there are statistics on how likely I am to go to jail or get killed by the police. … I think it is really disingenuous for (white people) to willfully ignore the plight we endure just to make themselves feel comfortable.”
Rather than attempting to be inclusive, All Lives Matter actually does the opposite — it serves as a demand to be included in the aftermath of someone else’s pain, a pain that their privilege makes them less likely to experience.
It is a resistance to acknowledge the flawed system that allows officers who kill black people to receive paid leave.
It also exemplifies the willful colorblindness that allows them to so carelessly reject the idea of the issue of race.
According to Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, on average, young blacks are 4.5 times more likely to be killed by police than other races in that age group.
And two writers from Washington Monthly found blacks are nearly three times more likely than whites to be subjected to investigatory stops.
It is clear the solution to combat the systematic racism and institutional oppression that allows such disparities to thrive is if every individual realizes the fight against inequality and police brutality is not just a “black problem,” but rather an American problem that every one — no matter color, age or gender — should work to combat.
At SDSU, where the black population was less than 5 percent last year (according to Forbes), there is less of a black voice, and as a result the Black Lives Matter movement struggles to carry the weight in needs to carry on campus.
This movement can only move forward with help from everyone at SDSU.
“As a white male, I am the problem,” freshman Riley Linehan said. “When I say that I’m not suggesting that it is my fault, but I am saying that the system embedded in society today thrives because of white supremacy, and it is up to white people to help dismantle this system.”
The All Lives Matter counter did not exist as a separate movement. It arose completely as a retort to Black Lives Matter.
What white people must ask themselves is, “Have I ever been followed in a department store? Stopped by the police for no absolute reason? Denied opportunities due to the color of my skin?”
Ultimately, white people must begin to take the experiences of black people seriously and listen to what they are saying.
To deny the truth of these experiences because it’s uncomfortable is equivalent to placing comfort above the lives of others.
Put simply, when a white person responds to “Black Lives Matter” with “All Lives Matter” it is pointless.
We know white lives matter.
Society and history has not shown us otherwise.
“Black Lives Matter” is a statement of outrage and demand for equality, and the right to live without scrutiny.
It’s also a chant that connects the history of slavery to the notion that a black life was seen as no more than three-fifths of a white life.
It’s a statement that opposes Jim Crow laws, a prison system geared toward the degradation of black lives and a police system that seems to so easily take the lives of black people without sufficient reasoning.
The statement “Black Lives Matter” implies that all lives matter, even and including black ones — a phrase that would not be said if it did not have to be.
As students of a school with a very small population of black students, it is imperative we continue to remind black students through our actions and statements that their lives matter, too.
Many students in the 60’s and 70’s accomplished a great deal at SDSU. As a grad of SDSU ’69 Biology it was awesome to hear Dr. Martin Luther King on campus. Once we were made aware of the issues of Civil Rights and the rights of African Americans with their contribution to making our country rich via slavery. It was a no a brainer to move forward in the right direction of making a campus that was diverse with Afro Americans, and Native Americans. It saddens me to see the campus from afar and to see that there is very little exchange of cultures in a very diverse community. All I can say is that you miss the essence of what educations does for the person and you maintain the same narrow minded views and values that you had as a Freshman. Because of your narrowness of allowing an appreciation and understanding of others you most of all limit yourselves. I hope you get involved with the Black lives matter movement because it is not only right but you will enhance yourselves in becoming truly educated not just in book knowledge but it human rights.
This article by Kemi Giwa, Contributor to the Oct 28, 2015 Daily Aztec should be published in every college newspaper around the country. It explains why the movement of Black Lives Matter needs to be recognized by every American citizen and why we must acknowledge the history of slavery and the nonpayment of reparations to Afro Americans for their labor in making the United States wealthy and rich for 400 years upon which white Americans expecially have lived off of and shared the benefits of Afro Americans contributions and labor. It does indeed matter when a debt has not been paid and not recognized for the value that others have lived off of… You have to think outside the box and utilize the wise words right in front of you because truth and justice have not provided a level playing field for anyone except white men. We share so much here at SDSU with the tremendous contributions that our Afro American athletes so tirelessly do in making our University World Class and hence your degree is given more recognition and respect when you go to apply for a job. It is time for all of us to support the Afro American students give to us each day in making our campus a valued place to experience with a greater understanding of the world we live in and if it will become a better or worse world depends on you and your ability to understand some elses struggles not just your own. Wise up! Wise Up! Challenge yourself to making a better world.
A person who was not even a student at the school was trespassing in the construction zone acting like he was on drugs, several different people called the police on him, and when the police try to stop the guy he tries to walk away and then resists arrest.
But wait, he happens to be black, so now the emotional, easily manipulated public is going to believe racism is the cause.
See, the wave stories like this that don’t tell the whole story are the reason rational people don’t support the BLM movement. There are many cases of police using significant force on all ethnicities of people. It’s usually not excessive, even when many people say it. If you disagree you should see what happens to the police officers when they err on the side of using too little force on potentially dangerous criminals.
As a retired Research Scientist from the Salk Institute, I am now teaching 10th grade Biology. I tell my 10th graders not to just READ but READ WITH Understanding. From your remarks you not only have not read the main article about the Black Lives Matter Movement nor my added comments to same. It would appear that nothing matters to you only your own narrow minded and selfish concerns. You need to wake up and look around to see that you live in a world where you have to get along with others. I would shutter to think that you are a student at SDSU because you have a lot to learn about other people and how you got to where you got to ..free of charge and off of other peoples hard work. Do not bother getting a college education and do not concern yourself with the rights of others much less the BLM movement. The world can get along without you in it!!! Please stay to yourself and forget reading anything just live in your own selfish world!!!. Knock yourself out~~
All lives matter
Nothing like repeating ….. read the above original article and then reply. It get redundant having to explain things to grown people that are suppose to be pursuing an education. If you are white then you have always mattered … get off your high horse!
“Of those 940 victims, 228 were black — roughly 25 percent, which is higher than any other racial minority in the U.S.” The implication here is that racism is the explanation for the fact that black people are overrepresented relative to their proportion of the population.
This is a perfect example of sophistry. It is a specious argument. In other words, it seems superficially plausible, but is actually wrong. This is a perfect time to reiterate that “disparate outcomes does not automatically mean disparate treatment.” There seems to be this very anti-scientific trend in academia and in media as of late, where ANY statistical difference in outcome is automatically assumed to be caused by racism, or sexism, or what have you. The fact that correlation does not equal causation is conveniently forgotten, as well as the fact that disparate outcomes does not automatically mean disparate treatment.
Black males make up 6% of the US population, yet they commit 50% of homicides in the US. This is not a made-up stat – it is actually true. Given the fact that 6% of the population commits 50% of the murders, what level of interaction with the police would you expect? It’s going to be higher than 6%. In fact, studies have been done that have tried to unpack the statistics, and control for the fact that black people statistically commit more violent crimes, and when this is done, it actually shows that the level of interaction between police and blacks is lower than would be expected.
There’s this bizarre belief that a certain minority group’s level of interaction with the police should scale with what proportion of the population they are. So for example, they’ll say, “Because black males make up 6% of the population, only 6% of police interactions should involve black males. If it’s higher, then racist discrimination against blacks IS the explanation.”
I submit to you that it’s far more rational to expect that a minority group’s level of interaction with the police will scale with the proportion of CRIME committed by the group, not by how large the group is. So if you have 6% of the population committing 50% of the homicides, the level of police interaction should be closer to 50% for that group. That isn’t racism – it’s common sense.
And basically all the stats regarding race and law are like this – when you actually account for other factors, there is an innocent explanation for the fact that blacks are overrepresented. Racism isn’t the explanation.
How do you account for the 50% of white crime is not is not prosecuted and 100% of white crime is not reported? If you look at the stat in the article 940 people died at the hands of the Police and in other stats by the Intercept it is 1074 Black males have died at the hands of the Police. There are no white males that have died in the same time period.. what do you say about that. You have to use raw numbers and not percentages which is misleading but then again the use of percentages says what you want to say anyway .. Check yourself out and try to base your stats on truth rather than opinion.