This isn't true. Everyone batted an eye. People lost their mind. That's why #AllLivesMatter became a thing: because people were offended by the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag. Let's not act like #AllLivesMatter is the right response. #AllLivesMatter IS the metaphorical batting of an eye to #BlackLivesMatter. That statement did not come into existence as a popular hashtag until people saw the first one.
We live in a world where everyone tries to say a lot with few words. They want you to get the impression at the first glance. There's no clarification, and there's no given context for most of what we see or read on the internet. Social media has created a phenomenon called "context collapse." Once you put something out there, it can be seen by anyone, and you have no idea who they are, how they are using it, or what culture they will filter the information through. So, when we see something, we instantly add our own context and fill in the gaps with our own perspective. When a white person sees #BlackLivesMatter, it implies exclusion, because he or she is not black, and even implies racism, because he or she does not understand the context in which the statement began. And so, naturally, #AllLivesMAtter seems like the appropriate response. But when you put it back into context, it is an insult. And it's pure ignorance.
This is the context:
A people group in our country made a statement to uplift themselves and add value to a culture who hates their own skin--who struggles with self-destruction--and the rest of us acted like it was an insult. So we created a response that negated it. Our ignorant retort became a gag in the mouths of those crying out.
That is why people say that the statement "All Lives Matter" is racist. Your motivation may not be racist. But in this context, it becomes a statement to negate the fact that black lives do matter.
We don't say "all lives matter" because we actually think all lives matter. We say it because WE want to matter. And that's the same reason people said "black lives matter" in the first place.
No matter how you mean it, this is how you come across to the people who understand the issues.
