There is a difference between focus and exclusion. If something matters, this does not imply nothing else does. If I saw “Law Students Matter” it does not imply that my colleagues, friends, and family do not. Here is something else that matters: context. The Black Lives Matter Movement arose in a context of evidence that they don’t. When people are receiving messages from the culture in which they live that their lives are less important than other lives, it is a cruel distortion of reality to scold them for not being inclusive enough…
There are some implicit words that precede “Black Lives Matter,” and they go something like this:
This is, of course, far too long to fit on a shirt.
Black Lives Matter is about focus, not exclusion. As a general matter, seeing the world and the people in it in mutually exclusive, either/or terms impedes your own thought process. If you wish to bear that intellectual consequence of a constricting ideology, that’s your decision. But this does not entitle you to project your either/or ideology onto other people who do not share it.
—Anonymous Law Professor
Law Professor’s Response to BLM Shirt Complaint
H/T: Elizabeth
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That was a very foolish letter by the student. But, hey, 18 or so, I give you a pass. If it’s an older student though …
It’s a law school, so most likely at least 22… Not that I think that’s old.