Choices that Matter

There’s a lot of controversy these days, some of it maybe unintentional, but some are intentional. I sometimes wonder why the group that promotes black lives chose the slogan Black Lives Matter versus All Lives Matter. 

     The undeniable truth is that black lives do matter but the phase excludes others. If the group had chosen the more inclusive phrase All Lives Matter they would have achieved their point by simply emphasizing that all lives are equal and matter in the same way. This to me seems to be a more positive approach, but then again it’s easy to look back in time and see a different approach. 

     Why is the choice of a slogan important? Simply because in today’s world people are easily offended. Many people chose to be offended rather than ignoring a verbal comment. It’s true some verbal comments are intended to offend, but many are just looking at the topic from a different perspective. 

     So my question is, what are the objectives of a group like BLM? I guess the easy answer is to emphasis  the importance of black lives. But, would they have changed their slogan if they knew some people would find it offensive or was it intended to offend. It’s up to each of us to chose whether we are offended. It’s true we have a choice.

     Black lives do matter, so I’m not offended by that slogan, but I think the message could have been worded in a more inclusive way. As always you can decide. “Just Saying . . .”