Implied Words: why a lot of tone deaf people find "Black Lives Matter" offensive
I want to write today about implied words. Often, we shorthand our way through life, leaving a word out here or there, allowing the listener or reader to infer what was implied from context. For example, when someone gets car keys out of their pocket, and says they are about to head to the store, we can infer that they did not intend to travel by foot. We can assume they mean to drive, even though driving was never explicitly mentioned--it was implied. Language works like this a lot. We leave out a few explicit words, because they are simply understood by the audience. Stating them precisely leads to a huge waste of time, lack of clarity...and boredom.
Recently, there has been a lot of attention given to the phrase "black lives matter", which also happens to be the name of an activist group seeking to raise awareness about systemic racism against African Americans. This phrase is pared down to the very essence of the movement. A word has been intentionally left out, because it was assumed that it would communicate quite clearly all on its own--the missing word easily inferred by all who heard or read this phrase. Let me restore it for you:
Black lives matter, too.
If you have spent any time contemplating activism and social justice issues that missing word, "too", is pretty apparent from context. Heck, even if you were completely uninformed, a quick tour of the writings, tweets, and actions of #BLM membership makes the inference crystal clear within moments. The rhetoric of this group is about equality, calling for justice for all citizens, raising awareness of systemic racism that seems to be inherent in our enforcement and justice systems (as supported by statistics and factual outcomes). They do not call for extermination of other races, rights for black beyond fairness and justice--yet, still, so many have such difficulty with their name. After a lot of thought, I realized why.
You see, it all comes down to how you choose to fill in the blanks. There are a lot of frightened people out there the past couple of years who hear about a movement like Black Lives Matter and seek to shut them down with retorts and patronizing language. The response has been "All Lives Matter." Well, yes, they do...but this is a ridiculous response to someone who just said "black lives matter, too." It is patronizing and ugly. The problem is, the "too" was implicit.
Implied words only work when we can all see the world in a similar enough way that shorthand communicates more clearly. The fear and indignation I hear when (usually) white folks reply with "ALL lives matter" has always left me really confused as well as a little sick to my stomach. No one said they didn't. Why do these angry, fearful retort-throwers think their response is not only appropriate, but justified?
They have a different experience, and they are hearing a different implicit word. These folks are hearing:
ONLY black lives matter.
Now, if you look around at the people aligned with #BLM, you probably aren't going to find one who ever stated that sentiment explicitly--but I haven't searched the entire internet for that phrase. If you can find it, it will be a rare individual who supports that point of view as part of their #BLM activism. However, inferring an "ONLY" into the phrase makes the smarmy, patronizing retort of "ALL lives matter" make a good deal more sense to me. The folks shouting #ALM at the top of their lungs are responding to an implicit word that was never intended, and actually makes no sense from the context.
This is the oddity of someone jingling their car keys at another person, and inviting them to go the store, only to have that other person shout, "No! You know I can't walk all the way to the store! How dare you even suggest such a thing!"
So what causes this kind of volatile reaction? In my experience it all comes down to fear. Even anger and hatred start with fear. Something is so fearful in these folks that Black Lives Matter is heard as ONLY Black Lives Matter. That does give me pause. Because it isn't like black folks have ever imprisoned countless white folks, or marched them around in chains, or...owned them. So...what is the basis of fear so visceral it causes the inference of a word that makes no sense in context?
Perhaps it is the thought that if white folks had to play by the same cultural rules and endure the same treatment as black folks, that they would indeed suffer injustices. Perhaps it is the thought that black folks gaining equal treatment would allow centuries of oppression to be flipped onto white folks--systemically and objectively. It is a deep rooted fear. It is wildly out of control.
Elevation of rights to equal those of others doesn't remove rights from anyone else--unless you are and have been exploiting others so that granting them equal status means your dirty little societal or business perks are removed. Equality generally means a happier, more productive community--no one loses when we are all given the same voice and opportunity. In fact, we all gain. Values like freedom, equality, justice and liberty are not finite qualities that have to be meted out to the deserving lest someone important get less than they deserve. They are limitless. And they only bring about a successful, peaceful and prosperous society when ALL are granted generous and equal portions of each one.
For those of you reading this, shaking your heads and saying, "well, why isn't there a white lives matter movement, they DO want something we can't have!" I say check yourself if you feel the need to say either of the implicit statements above:
White lives matter, too!
ONLY white lives matter.
Crack a history book, a newspaper, or a social media feed--you have some work to do so you can join us here in the objective present. Privilege is real--and maybe THAT is why those most vocal about all the ways #BLM MUST be wrong (based on their incorrect and tone deaf inferences of the nonsensical "ONLY"). Loss of privilege, such as not getting profiled by law enforcement, or lenient sentencing when a convicted of a crime, can be a very frightening thing to those who currently get special treatment. Both statements above are not only tone deaf, they are at the heart of the issue #BLM is working to get our community to see. Time to take the blinders off and step into the 21st century.
For those who think #BLM is about lawlessness, murdering police officers or any other reactionary nonsense, I'd say that you, too, have not been paying attention. But it isn't too late to catch up. It starts with dropping the fear, and silencing that petty retort that does not make sense if you actually listen to #BLM. You need to infer the right missing word, and stop embracing a culture that sets some above others when it comes to the greatest virtues of our society: equality, justice and freedom.
Black lives DO matter, TOO.
Recently, there has been a lot of attention given to the phrase "black lives matter", which also happens to be the name of an activist group seeking to raise awareness about systemic racism against African Americans. This phrase is pared down to the very essence of the movement. A word has been intentionally left out, because it was assumed that it would communicate quite clearly all on its own--the missing word easily inferred by all who heard or read this phrase. Let me restore it for you:
Black lives matter, too.
If you have spent any time contemplating activism and social justice issues that missing word, "too", is pretty apparent from context. Heck, even if you were completely uninformed, a quick tour of the writings, tweets, and actions of #BLM membership makes the inference crystal clear within moments. The rhetoric of this group is about equality, calling for justice for all citizens, raising awareness of systemic racism that seems to be inherent in our enforcement and justice systems (as supported by statistics and factual outcomes). They do not call for extermination of other races, rights for black beyond fairness and justice--yet, still, so many have such difficulty with their name. After a lot of thought, I realized why.
You see, it all comes down to how you choose to fill in the blanks. There are a lot of frightened people out there the past couple of years who hear about a movement like Black Lives Matter and seek to shut them down with retorts and patronizing language. The response has been "All Lives Matter." Well, yes, they do...but this is a ridiculous response to someone who just said "black lives matter, too." It is patronizing and ugly. The problem is, the "too" was implicit.
Implied words only work when we can all see the world in a similar enough way that shorthand communicates more clearly. The fear and indignation I hear when (usually) white folks reply with "ALL lives matter" has always left me really confused as well as a little sick to my stomach. No one said they didn't. Why do these angry, fearful retort-throwers think their response is not only appropriate, but justified?
They have a different experience, and they are hearing a different implicit word. These folks are hearing:
ONLY black lives matter.
Now, if you look around at the people aligned with #BLM, you probably aren't going to find one who ever stated that sentiment explicitly--but I haven't searched the entire internet for that phrase. If you can find it, it will be a rare individual who supports that point of view as part of their #BLM activism. However, inferring an "ONLY" into the phrase makes the smarmy, patronizing retort of "ALL lives matter" make a good deal more sense to me. The folks shouting #ALM at the top of their lungs are responding to an implicit word that was never intended, and actually makes no sense from the context.
This is the oddity of someone jingling their car keys at another person, and inviting them to go the store, only to have that other person shout, "No! You know I can't walk all the way to the store! How dare you even suggest such a thing!"
So what causes this kind of volatile reaction? In my experience it all comes down to fear. Even anger and hatred start with fear. Something is so fearful in these folks that Black Lives Matter is heard as ONLY Black Lives Matter. That does give me pause. Because it isn't like black folks have ever imprisoned countless white folks, or marched them around in chains, or...owned them. So...what is the basis of fear so visceral it causes the inference of a word that makes no sense in context?
Click to viewPerhaps it is the thought that if white folks had to play by the same cultural rules and endure the same treatment as black folks, that they would indeed suffer injustices. Perhaps it is the thought that black folks gaining equal treatment would allow centuries of oppression to be flipped onto white folks--systemically and objectively. It is a deep rooted fear. It is wildly out of control.
Elevation of rights to equal those of others doesn't remove rights from anyone else--unless you are and have been exploiting others so that granting them equal status means your dirty little societal or business perks are removed. Equality generally means a happier, more productive community--no one loses when we are all given the same voice and opportunity. In fact, we all gain. Values like freedom, equality, justice and liberty are not finite qualities that have to be meted out to the deserving lest someone important get less than they deserve. They are limitless. And they only bring about a successful, peaceful and prosperous society when ALL are granted generous and equal portions of each one.
For those of you reading this, shaking your heads and saying, "well, why isn't there a white lives matter movement, they DO want something we can't have!" I say check yourself if you feel the need to say either of the implicit statements above:
White lives matter, too!
ONLY white lives matter.
Crack a history book, a newspaper, or a social media feed--you have some work to do so you can join us here in the objective present. Privilege is real--and maybe THAT is why those most vocal about all the ways #BLM MUST be wrong (based on their incorrect and tone deaf inferences of the nonsensical "ONLY"). Loss of privilege, such as not getting profiled by law enforcement, or lenient sentencing when a convicted of a crime, can be a very frightening thing to those who currently get special treatment. Both statements above are not only tone deaf, they are at the heart of the issue #BLM is working to get our community to see. Time to take the blinders off and step into the 21st century.
For those who think #BLM is about lawlessness, murdering police officers or any other reactionary nonsense, I'd say that you, too, have not been paying attention. But it isn't too late to catch up. It starts with dropping the fear, and silencing that petty retort that does not make sense if you actually listen to #BLM. You need to infer the right missing word, and stop embracing a culture that sets some above others when it comes to the greatest virtues of our society: equality, justice and freedom.
Black lives DO matter, TOO.