By Quincy K. Ruffin

The Black Lives Matter phrase has gained much popularity over the last few years. With the killing of George Floyd, the phrase has only continued to gain popularity with the BIPOC community and supporters alike. But the phrase has been a source of controversy as well with a contradictory phrase, “All Lives Matter” gaining popularity with the more conservative crowd. Law enforcement has even joined the phrase craze with their own Blue Lives Matter. So, who is right? Do Black lives matter? Do all lives matter? And why is it necessary to put that message out now? Using a technique from my old law school days, I will analyze the arguments of both phrase in hopes to provide some clarity in the murky waters of the phrase craze.

To begin my analysis, I will start with what it means to matter? According to dictionary.com, to matter means “to be of importance.” Websters adds “…some significance.” So, for black lives to matter, it would have to be proven that they are of importance or some significance. The contributions made by African Americans as a collective group and by specific individuals have been of paramount importance in the American narrative. In 1860, there were nearly 4 million American slaves worth about $3.5 billion. They were the US economies largest single financial asset worth more than all manufacturing and railroads combined. The wealth built from slave labor propelled the US into a position as one of the leading economies in the world and we continue to benefit from that foundation today. Black inventors created innovative technology critical to America’s economic success including Frederick Jones, father of the first automatic refrigeration system for the long-haul, Garrett Morgan inventor of the gas mask and Marie Van Brittan Brown inventor of the first home security system. Black lives have contributed significantly to American society, commerce, and science.

For all lives to matter, it would have to be proven that all lives are of some importance or some significance. There are plethora of scientific breakthroughs, technological marvels and economic models as a result of the diversity of the country reflecting the all lives ideal. If All Lives Matter includes black lives, why is the phrase “Black Lives Matter” spray painted on streets, made into stickers and printed on the uniforms of NBA players? The answer is clearer in what it looks like to not matter. What lives have been treated as though they did not matter?

To begin with, legislation from a century ago still has an impact on the socioeconomic difficulties many Black Americans experience today. Redlining, which is a discriminatory practice that puts services and financial products out of reach for residents of certain areas based on race or ethnicity (Kenton, 2020), started in the 1930’s. It legally ended with the 1968 Fair Housing act which made it illegal to discriminate based on someone’s race when they are trying to rent or purchase a home. During the recent housing boom, 6.2% of whites with a credit score of 660 and higher received high interest mortgages but 21.4% of blacks with that same score and higher received those same loans. Banks were purposely giving blacks subprime loans even when they qualified for better ones. Wells Fargo was sued for this practice and settled for $175 million in December 2019. By the time the Fair Housing act was signed into law, white families had been building wealth from housing for decades, and blacks had been left behind. In 2016 the median wealth for white families was $171,000, for Hispanic or Latino, $20,7020, for other or multiple race, $64,620 and for blacks $17,150. (Urban Institute, 2019)

Black Americans still feel the negative effects of the result of policies regarding American “war on drugs” today. Nearly 80% of people in federal prison and almost 60% of people in state prison for drug offenses are black or Latino. (Drugpolicy.org, 2018) This is despite the fact that black and white Americans sell and use drugs at similar rates. (Floyd, Alexandre, Hedden, Lawson, & Latimer, 2010) (Ingraham, 2014) Studies also show that black Americans were 2.7 times as likely to be arrested for drug related offenses. (The Hamilton Project, 2016) Black Americans are incarcerated in state prisons at five times the rate of whites, according to The Sentencing Project, a Washington advocacy group. And in twelve states more than half the prison population is African American. (Nellis, 2016)

This was not happenstance. In a 1994 interview for Harper’s Magazine, John Ehrlichman, Nixon’s former domestic policy advisor spoke about the War on Drugs which started in the 1970’s. Ehrlichman admitted in the interview that the Nixon administration purposely set out to get the public to associate blacks with heroin and criminalize drugs . (Wikipedia, 2020) The war on drugs continues to this day.

There are disparities even in medical treatment and outcomes for African Americans. According to the National Academies of Sciences Engineering Medicine, minorities tend to receive lower quality healthcare than non-minorities even controlling for access-related factors like insurance and income. And in 2018, black women died of maternal causes at a rate of 37.1 per 100,000 compared to white women at a rate of 14.7. (Chuck, 2020) In 2005, the Institute of Medicine, now called the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) reported, “some people in the United States were more likely to die from cancer, heart disease, and diabetes simply because of their race or ethnicity, not just because they lack access to health care.” While some studies report that poverty among blacks may account for the greater mortality rate, that poverty rate can be traced back to policies such as redlining and the loss of income due the war on drugs.

Ask most Americans today what the Black Lives Matter movement is about, and they will not likely talk about housing disparities, wealth distribution or medical treatment. They will likely tell you that the movement is about the disproportionate numbers of unarmed blacks killed by the police. From 2015 to August 2020, whites were shot and killed by the police at a rate of 13 per million of the population. Hispanics were 24 per million and blacks were 32 per million. (Statisita.com, 2020) This is while being roughly 12% of the population. The war on drugs combined with the economic disparities created by redlining has led to the higher rates of policing in predominately black and Latino communities. More police lead to more police encounters. More police encounters lead to a higher chance of force being used, up to and including deadly force.

I conclude that All Lives Matter and Black Lives matter. I also conclude that it is Black Lives, not All Lives, that have been treated as though they don’t matter. Therefore, it is entirely appropriate to give society a reminder that black lives matter.

I must also add that the slogan, “Black Lives Matter” is not just about George Floyd, Brianna Taylor, Jacob Blake or any other contemporary African American killed by the police. It is especially not about those who profess to support black lives but loot, destroy property and support attacks on police officers. It is about remembering those blacks who have fallen victim to a system that was forced upon them. It is about those who are forced to build a life starting with the broken-down tools left by generational deficits. Deficits that were caused by the purposeful disconnection from the lifeblood of America. It is about making America live up to its founding promises that every American has the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

So, when you see the slogan “Black Lives Matter,” understand it is a reminder of Americans who were separated from the American dream. It is an appeal for recognition and reconciliation. And it is a hope that America will one day be a nation that lives up to its professed ideals that all men are created equal.

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Quincy K. Ruffin is a subject matter expert in Racial Bias, Diversity and Inclusion and runs the website www.unmaskingthebiasphere.com. He is a POST certified instructor for Fair and Impartial Policing, Principled Policing and Racial Profiling. Mr. Ruffin has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Oregon and a Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University.

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