I wrote this blog post four times, and none of it felt right. Here’s try number five.

Black lives matter.

Yes, all lives matter, Darla, but that’s not what this means. It’s not asking for more. It’s asking for EQUAL. Black lives matter, TOO. Some people, Darla, don’t seem to realize that, so they need to be told. If you don’t understand that distinction by now, you’re willfully obtuse and you don’t care.

If you’re a white person who thinks racism doesn’t exist, conduct a little thought experiment a la Jane Elliott. Would you want to be treated the way black people are treated in this society? Squint your little eyes shut and really think about it.

No, you don’t. And the fact that you know there is a distinction means you know racism exists, so quit acting like it doesn’t.

George Floyd was choked to death by a cop over an agonizing 9-minute period. He was stopped on SUSPICION of passing a counterfeit $20 bill.

Dylann Roof opened fire in a church full of black parishioners and slaughtered nine people because he felt his whiteness made him superior and he hated them for lacking it. After his arrest, the cops took him to Burger King. That would never, ever have happened if he had been black. Squint your little eyes shut again and imagine it – imagine a 19-year-old black kid gunning down 9 white folks in a church and ask yourself if the arresting officers would’ve taken his ass to BK. You know the answer.

And so on. And so on. And so on. This is the horror movie that black people live through. For hundreds of years back and into 2020. It’s turtles all the way down.

Black lives matter.

B