"All Lives Matter" by Kevin Roose
"The problem is that the statement "I should get my fair share" had an implicit "too" at the end: "I should get my fair share, too, just like everyone else." But your dad's response treated your statement as though you meant "only I should get my fair share", which clearly was not your intention. As a result, his statement that "everyone should get their fair share," while true, only served to ignore the problem you were trying to point out."
The example given in this quote is a perfect example to compare to the Black Lives Matter movement. I think many people, like the dad in the scenario given in the reading ignore the implied "too" at the end of Black Lives Matter, which is why "All Lives Matter" is their response because it sounds like people are trying to say that only black lives matter. If the "too" was added to the phrase and campaign I think there would be more supporters and less argument over it.
"So when a young black man gets killed (prior to the recent police shootings), it's generally not considered "news", while a middle-aged white woman being killed is treated as news. And to a large degree, that is accurate — young black men are killed in significantly disproportionate numbers, which is why we don't treat it as anything new. But the result is that, societally, we don't pay as much attention to certain people's deaths as we do to others. So, currently, we don't treat all lives as though they matter equally."
I found the point that this section of the reading made very upsetting. The fact that black people in the United States are treated so differently than whites are is crazy. The Black Lives Matter campaign is trying to change this and make more people aware of the ignorance society has as a whole when it comes to this issue. The amount of young black people who are killed in such unfortunate circumstances should have so much more coverage and awareness, rather than the killings of white people which are almost rare when compared to the young black people.
"Amazing Grace" by Jonathan Kozol
"'If poor people behaved rationally,' says Lawrence Mead, a professor of political science at New York University, 'the would seldom be poor for long in the first place.' Many social scientists today appear to hold this point of view and argue that the largest portion of the suffering poor people undergo has to be blamed upon their own 'behaviors,' a word they tend to pluralize."
This paragraph stuck out to me while reading the rest of Kozol's piece, I found it very interesting that this is a popular opinion among social scientists now. There are for sure some circumstances where the behavior of poor people may affect their situation, but to make this statement about poor people as a whole and expect them to so easily be able to become wealthier when it is statistically so difficult to do so in this society is craziness. The whole reading discusses the struggles of people and individual stories, of people who face hard times and do not by any means choose to be living in the ways that they have to.
Point to share:
"As a result, his statement that "everyone should get their fair share," while true, only served to ignore the problem you were trying to point out." was said in the All Lives Matter article, I think it's a perfect explanation of how the dad at dinner example correlates with Black Lives Matter vs. the "all lives matter" response. Responding with something that has nothing to do with the problem and ignoring the problem does not benefit anyone.
"The problem is that the statement "I should get my fair share" had an implicit "too" at the end: "I should get my fair share, too, just like everyone else." But your dad's response treated your statement as though you meant "only I should get my fair share", which clearly was not your intention. As a result, his statement that "everyone should get their fair share," while true, only served to ignore the problem you were trying to point out."
The example given in this quote is a perfect example to compare to the Black Lives Matter movement. I think many people, like the dad in the scenario given in the reading ignore the implied "too" at the end of Black Lives Matter, which is why "All Lives Matter" is their response because it sounds like people are trying to say that only black lives matter. If the "too" was added to the phrase and campaign I think there would be more supporters and less argument over it.
"So when a young black man gets killed (prior to the recent police shootings), it's generally not considered "news", while a middle-aged white woman being killed is treated as news. And to a large degree, that is accurate — young black men are killed in significantly disproportionate numbers, which is why we don't treat it as anything new. But the result is that, societally, we don't pay as much attention to certain people's deaths as we do to others. So, currently, we don't treat all lives as though they matter equally."
I found the point that this section of the reading made very upsetting. The fact that black people in the United States are treated so differently than whites are is crazy. The Black Lives Matter campaign is trying to change this and make more people aware of the ignorance society has as a whole when it comes to this issue. The amount of young black people who are killed in such unfortunate circumstances should have so much more coverage and awareness, rather than the killings of white people which are almost rare when compared to the young black people.
"Amazing Grace" by Jonathan Kozol
"'If poor people behaved rationally,' says Lawrence Mead, a professor of political science at New York University, 'the would seldom be poor for long in the first place.' Many social scientists today appear to hold this point of view and argue that the largest portion of the suffering poor people undergo has to be blamed upon their own 'behaviors,' a word they tend to pluralize."
This paragraph stuck out to me while reading the rest of Kozol's piece, I found it very interesting that this is a popular opinion among social scientists now. There are for sure some circumstances where the behavior of poor people may affect their situation, but to make this statement about poor people as a whole and expect them to so easily be able to become wealthier when it is statistically so difficult to do so in this society is craziness. The whole reading discusses the struggles of people and individual stories, of people who face hard times and do not by any means choose to be living in the ways that they have to.
Point to share:
"As a result, his statement that "everyone should get their fair share," while true, only served to ignore the problem you were trying to point out." was said in the All Lives Matter article, I think it's a perfect explanation of how the dad at dinner example correlates with Black Lives Matter vs. the "all lives matter" response. Responding with something that has nothing to do with the problem and ignoring the problem does not benefit anyone.
Your comments are thought provoking and remind me of Sarah Sentilles' article about what photos of dead bodies appear in the news. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/14/magazine/media-bodies-censorship.html
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about ignoring the problem doesn't fix it or help anyone, it only makes things worse. It makes people think that its okay to say 'all lives matter' and its not okay. The whole point of 'black lives matter' is to raise awareness the major problem the African American community is facing. Saying 'all lives matter' just proves how ignorant and unaware people are of the seriousness of the problem.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment about how black people are treated differently than white people are. It is unfair and everyone should be treated equally but unfortunately I do not think that will happen especially between races.
ReplyDelete