A thread on "Black Lives Matter" v. "All Lives Matter":
Imagine you're in a movie theater somewhere in Nebraska.
Imagine you're in a movie theater somewhere in Nebraska.
In the middle of the movie, your phone rings. You answer your phone and proceed to have a conversation at full volume. After about a minute, the guy behind you taps you on the shoulder and says, "Dude, we're in a movie theater."
You could respond in any number of ways. You might say, "No, we're in Nebraska." But this response isn't appropriate. In fact, it's difficult to imagine that anyone would offer this as a serious retort.
For one thing, it's possible to be both in a movie theater and in Nebraska (as you in fact are). So it's not much of a rebuttal.
For another, your fellow movie-goer has stated something obvious to you-namely that you are in a movie theater-because your conduct is that of a person who doesn't recognize this fact or simply doesn't care.
We state the obvious when someone's actions are inconsistent with their having recognized the truth in question. "Dude, we're in a movie theater" means "Dude, we're in a movie theater: you should act like it."
Philosophers of language call this 'conversational implicature', which is just a fancy term for basic subtexts that competent language users naturally infer under normal circumstances.
Under normal circumstances, when someone points out the obvious to us, we infer that we are doing something that suggests we are unaware of the obvious fact that has just been brought to our attention.
When we say, "Black lives matter," there's some conversational implicature at work.
We live in a society that routinely functions in ways inconsistent with our having recognized that, among all lives, the lives of Black people matter.
We live in a society that routinely functions in ways inconsistent with our having recognized that, among all lives, the lives of Black people matter.
When we say, "Black lives matter," we mean, "Black lives matter," and you should act like it.
When we say, "Black lives matter," we are saying that institutions in our society do not function in a way that is consistent with the recognition that Black lives, specifically, matter:
When Eric Garner is suffocated to death in police custody and no one goes to jail, our society functions as one in which Black lives don't matter. Hence, "Black lives matter," and we should act like it.
When Freddie Gray dies of injuries sustained in police custody and no one goes to jail, our society functions as one in which Black lives don't matter. Hence, "Black lives matter," and we should act like it.
When Trayvon Martin is gunned down while walking through a neighborhood and no one goes to jail, our society functions as one in which Black lives don't matter. Hence, "Black lives matter," and we should act like it.
When Elijah McClain dies after being choked by police officers and injected with ketamine, and no one goes to jail, our society functions as one in which Black lives don't matter. Hence, "Black lives matter," and we should act like it.
When Ahmaud Arbery is gunned down in broad daylight, on video, and no one goes to jail, our society functions as one in which Black lives don't matter. Hence, "Black lives matter," and we should act like it.
When Breonna Taylor is shot 8 times in her own apartment by the police and no one goes to jail, our society functions as one in which Black lives don't matter. Hence, "Black lives matter," and we should act like it.
When George Floyd suffocates to death under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer and no one goes to jail, our society functions as one in which Black lives don't matter. Hence, "Black lives matter," and we should act like it.
So when, as a competent language user, you respond by saying "all lives matter," one of two things must be the case. Either you're not fully aware of how our public institutions treat Black citizens; or you are aware, and you're okay with it-in which case, you are a racist.
