I have been going for the past year to the Black Lives Matter vigils held in Peterborough, at Routes 101 and 202. I try to be there at noon on Saturdays.
Many people in cars going by wave and give a “thumbs up” or other positive sign, while others shout “all lives matter!” This is when I’d like to explain that the opposite of “Black lives matter” is not “all lives matter,” but rather “Black lives don’t matter.” In fact, all lives won’t matter until every life, of any color, is considered sacred.
It is quite understandable that a white person, living in a majority-white state like New Hampshire, can be confused about this. It’s good to walk in each other’s shoes. As a white woman, my job is to understand how it feels to be in the minority. Have you ever been the only one in the room who doesn’t know the language? You feel different, and you can’t do anything about it.
I am left-handed, and if you are right-handed, you may not think this a challenge. You are at home in a right-handed world, so you don’t notice it. But I notice every time I use a gas pump, or a can opener. If I hold the toothpaste tube in my left hand, the writing is upside down, a reminder that it was not designed for me.
Left-handedness has not subjected me to discrimination, but it has helped my understanding. Unless the majority of white Americans make changes, our country cannot promise “liberty and justice for all.”
I believe in this vision. I think most of us want the United States to be a place of equality. Of course, differences exist, but they can be bridged. My sign says “Justice.” Can you agree?
Denise Ginzler
Greenville