"If All Lives Matter, Why Is My Shirt Bothering You? "

"This debate seems to have crystallized into two mantras.  One side insists “Black Lives Matter” while the other side retorts, “All Lives Matter.”  I can’t help but notice that both sides of the debate believe not only that they are on the side of justice and equity, but that their opponents are not.

A few weeks ago, while visiting some college friends in Richmond, VA, I set out to try and provide some clarity to this debate. I packed my “Black Kids Matter” t-shirt and prepared for a social experiment...

Specifically, in fourteen hours, I met only a single white person who responded positively to my shirt.  I met him at 1:45 A.M., and he was decidedly inebriated.  Literally every other white person that reacted to my shirt reacted negatively, usually in one of three ways: visible anger, clear discomfort, or attempted suppression...

Consider the mundanity of my shirt.  Does any reasonable person disagree with the notion that Black children have value as human beings? That they matter?  Of course not. So the reactions (or at least most of them) can’t be because people disagree, right?  The negative reaction has to come from somewhere else.  If my shirt had merely said Kids Matter, would people have even looked twice?  What about All Kids Matter?

Right.  It’s the word “Black” that makes it controversial.  It’s the word “Black” that makes it “a political statement.”  It’s the word “Black” that makes people angry, defensive, or uncomfortable.  It’s the word “Black” that I’ve seen too many of my white friends’ tongues tied in knots over.  And it’s the word “Black” that means that the backlash against my shirt (and the larger movement the shirt represents) is absolutely about race."

https://neverallowedtoconclude.wordpress.com/2015/08/12/if-all-lives-matter-why-is-my-shirt-bothering-you/

Related: white fragility

FB: A white man wore a t-shirt that says "Black Kids Matter" for 14 hours, and wrote a very well written reflection about the reactions

"Consider the mundanity of my shirt.  Does any reasonable person disagree with the notion that Black children have value as human beings? That they matter?  Of course not. So the reactions (or at least most of them) can’t be because people disagree, right?  The negative reaction has to come from somewhere else."