4 ms·
I feel like this is a classic case of American exceptionalisms. Americans have an absolutely bonkers relationship with race and often assume that other Westerne
by honkdaddy 4y ago
I feel like this is a classic case of American exceptionalisms. Americans have an absolutely bonkers relationship with race and often assume that other Westerners around the world feel the same way.
The _only_ reason the phrase "All Lives Matter" has any remotely political juice to it is because of the riots that occurred in America two years ago; the phrase itself is entirely innocuous and is really something most reasonable people can get behind.
It bothers me to no end when people imply that the rest of the English speaking world should try to update their lexicon and tread carefully around certain words simply to appease a tiny minority of Americans.
- ant_li0n 4y agoI'm pretty ignorant of this, but was the phrase "All Lives Matter" really out and about in normal use for a long time? Or did it rise in popular use after "Black Lives Matter"? If it's the first one, yeah I agree w/you. If it's the second, well...
- WalterGR 4y agoNo and yes, respectively. OP is just being coy; they fully know this and tipped their hand by referring to the demonstrations as riots. > If it's the second, well...
- honkdaddy 4y agoWould you not classify them as riots? What word would you use? I'm Canadian but was living in Seattle at the time. Businesses were burned, cars were flipped, statues torn down. I'm not trying to downplay the importance of what was being protested, but to pretend it was a peaceful demonstration is laughable. Riot is a perfectly reasonable word to describe it.
- WalterGR 4y agoAt issue is your word choice and how that goes to the answers of ant_li0n’s questions for you.
- Giorgi 4y agoIt was full scale riots to the point that rioters actually looted. Don't push your propaganda on Hacker News, please.
- honkdaddy 4y agoWhether it had much use prior to 2020 I'm unsure, the point is that Americans (like the charming one I'm trying my best to be patient with below) will now forever associate their country's own racial backstory with those three words, and for some reason expect others around the world to do the same.
- neonsunset 4y agoIf you're pretty ignorant of the topic, then why do you know about the fact that "All Lives Matter" phrase only rose to prominence after "Black Lives Matter" movement in the US? This is a pointed question led with dishonesty. It's important to ask oneself what was the motivation behind trying to manipulate other readers' perception instead of just dropping the "I'm pretty ignorant of this, but..." part in the first place.
- ant_li0n 4y agoNo, I really was asking a question. I don't know, was the phrase "All Lives Matter" in common circulation, before "Black Lives Matter" came around? I really do not know, that's why I asked
- ryandrake 4y ago"All Lives Matter" was not in common circulation until "Black Lives Matter" entered the scene, because the phrase is used as a rebuttal to "Black Lives Matter." That's why it's commonly understood to be a dogwhistle. When person A says "Black Lives Matter" and person B says "All Lives Matter", person B is really saying "NO. All Lives Matter" the un-spoken "NO" is their disagreement with "Black Lives Matter." If they agreed that "Black Lives Matter" they would not have had to come up with a rebuttal to counter it.