They're Right: Black Lives Don't Matter

Black lives don't matter. But then neither do those of anyone else. It's just not a principal of our system of government that any particular life matters at all.

Aren't All Men Created Equal?

But didn't we say “All men are created equal?” We did, but it was only a preamble to tell George the Third to kiss-off. All it really means is your life doesn't matter any more than mine. And while the Declaration of Independence is a good read (I read it most every Fourth of July), it has no legally binding effect.

The truth is your life doesn't matter any more than you make it matter. Read the Constitution. It's a fairly technical document.

And the Bill of Rights?

The Bill of Rights was actually pushed by the Anti-Federalists who thought of it as a necessary to safeguard individual liberty. The Federalists opposed saying “Hey, the states already have all the powers not enumarated in the Constitution. These are your natural rights anyway. We don't really need to spell them out.”

When Life Matters

The way to make your life matter is to make your life matter. You can choose to do it for one, to take care of your mom or dad, or your wife, or your kid, or you can choose to make it matter for the world, to “Have a Dream,” as Martin Luther King, Jr. might say, or to “be the change you wish to see in the world,” Ghandi, or to “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier,” Mother Teresa, or even to “Make America Great Again.”

You can choose to be a great boss, to be a great employee, to make people smile, to teach people.

Or you can choose to just sit around and get stoned. Or you can choose anything in between.

Black Lives Don't Matter, Unless You Say So.

And you can say “Black Lives Matter,” but you might want to look at how you put that into action, and if it's really what you mean. Is there unnecessary violence against black people by cops? Sure. Do nutty white people go shooting up black people for no reason? Yep, that too. Can Stand Your Ground and Fleeing Felon laws lead to bad results? Damn Straight.

But if you really cared about black lives, you'd be looking at why thousands of blacks are killing other blacks, why blacks commit crimes at seven to ten times the rates of whites, mostly against other blacks. Maybe you'd be looking at how to help black kids read by the third grade, so that they have a better chance of actually graduating high school, and a greater chance at success. And if you look at it on a more global level, and you want to cry slavery, you can look at history and see we've all been slaves at one time or another, we've all been massacred. And you can get this is nothing special. Or you can choose to be bothered by the thirty to 45 million slaves in the world today, and do something about that.

Or you'd be looking at how to create black families. The truth is there is a stubborn correlation between single-parent homes and violence and incarceration.

And this isn't the fault of the police. Police work is a calling. And most policemen are out there because they say their lives matter, because they want to leave a better world, a safer city, because they want to protect and serve and leave a better world.

It's easy to scream and yell, and make these public servant's lives a living hell because some black person got shot. But that's bullshit from the sidelines. It's easy to boo from the stands, or to take a knee, and say it's Whitey's fault.

Change the System

The truth is Whitey doesn't give a rat's ass, and why should he? And if you think about it, the policy of most of the ones who claim to care has left welfare, social, and educational systems stacked against the ones who want to escape.

If you want to help people make their lives matter, maybe you should work to change those systems instead of screaming and yelling and trying to shut down anyone who doesn't think like you.

You Can't Demand Respect

The thing is people respect those who respect themselves. When I see a black person calling another one a “nigger,” I wonder if he really deserves any more respect from me. If you want my respect, earn it. If you want me to believe black lives matter, act like you believe it.

What You Can Do

Is there bias? Yes. We're all biased. Does it show up in policing? Yes. But if you want it to stop, maybe you should start by talking to the police, becoming their partners in making your neighborhood safe instead of making them your enemies.

And you can teach your kids to read. And you can make sure your children grow up in a two-parent home, and you can become cops and teachers and dads yourselves. And mostly what you can do is talk, and listen.

And you can start things like Campaign Zero, and if that's your expression of making your life matter, it's your right. And I agree with a lot of the principles of Campaign Zero, but not as a race issue.

As a race issue, I think the Black Lives Matter movement is putting the cart before the horse. There, it is or should be about making individual lives matter. When you work on that, we'll notice, and the rest will start to take care of itself.