I mean... where's the lie?
BLACK LIVES MATTER.
Posted by Melissa Taylor Thomason, copied because I don't want it to disappear.
The reason many young, Southern, white, “allies” like me embrace the “Black Lives Matter” movement is ...
Because we grew up around the “All Lives Matter” crowd that went to church on Sunday and then used the N- word every time a Black person made them mad for the rest of the week.
Because we got taught “red or yellow, black or white, they are precious in his sight” as kids and then, as teenagers, got told that if we started relationships with black people we’d be called an “N- lover,” disowned or worse.
Because we were taught about the horrors of slavery, and then we were taught that the Confederate flag should be “respected.”
Because we grew up hearing white people around us say “I love everybody” and then heard them whisper about not moving into one neighborhood or another because Black people lived there.
Because we grew up being shown and taught all about a white Jesus and learned later that He looked nothing like us.
Because at school, we were taught that MLK Jr was a hero and then we saw how angry “Martin Luther King Jr Day” made you.
Because we heard the “Black jokes” that some of you told and thought the laughter or silence others responded with didn’t line up with the “holy boldness” we’d been taught.
Because what you taught us black people were or believed or how “they” acted was NOTHING like the reality we found when we got close to them and listened.
We embrace #BLM because we grew up hearing the words of the “silent majority” spoken aloud, and we knew that what they were saying about HUMAN BEINGS was wrong.
Many of us embrace “Black Lives Matter,” because we embrace all movements that steer us closer to racial equality and because when you showed us who you were, we believed you.
#BlackLivesStillMatter #AlliesUnite
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Edit added on 6/11/20:
Let’s clear up some common misconceptions in these comments, as there are lots of them, and I’m down for taking the time to do it if it will help paint a clearer picture:
1. My parents were INCREDIBLE, but they couldn’t walk around with their hands covering my ears all the time. 😂 I was SMART, and I loved God with everything in me. It didn’t take very long for me to figure out that many of the grown-ups in my extended world were NOT okay with Black people except from a distance. My parents weren’t those people though. Black kids spent the night with me, and one of my friends, who was black, lived with us for a while when I was a young adult. They loved him just like one of their own kids. I thank God for the parents He gave me DAILY. 👍🏻
2. This isn’t just stuff that happened “in the past.” Many of the things I listed are what I heard and saw as a child and teenager in a rural Southern town AND then again heard and saw in the lives of young people I worked with as an adult and in the lives of fellow adults. If these were super rare or isolated events in my world, I wouldn’t have listed them. 👍🏻
3. Yes, I’m sure that racism probably occurs in a variety of regions in this country, but I’ve never lived for an extended period of time anywhere but in the South. So I can’t tell you about anywhere else. You’re welcome to tell ME about it though. 👍🏻
4. Of course, “not all Southerners are racists!” 🤦🏼♀️ That was kind of my point. 😂 I am such a strong advocate for black lives, BECAUSE I am a Southerner. I’ve seen racism. I know it’s history in the South. I KNOW it’s not dead, and I absolutely REFUSE to sit silently by and let it breathe and grow without taking action. And I am not alone! There are tons of “Melissas” all over the South right now! (Some of them have shared this post! 😉 )👍🏻
5. I am both well-adjusted and HAPPY. 🥰 I do not support black lives because of “white guilt” or “white angst.” I support black lives because of LOVE!!! I value black lives. I value black children. I value black PEOPLE, and I love them because why wouldn’t I? God made us all in His image, not just us pale folks! 😉 And although I understand that “I didn’t own slaves” and that “it’s not my personal fault that people experience racism in this country,” I do think it is my personal RESPONSIBILITY, as a Christian and a mother, to do what I can to help fix my own house (aka: country) when it’s broken!!!
Hugs to every person who can hear this post with their hearts and not their agendas!!!
