I just need an conclusion at the end of the paper of four to five lines just to cover the full page
For our midterm project, we were assigned the topic of Black Lives Matter vs. All Lives Matter. We both came into the discussion with open minds and ready to listen to the other person’s experiences and perspectives on the issue. Our conversation went very smoothly, and it was nice to be able to have a cooperative discussion on a topic that can be considered controversial. Coming from two very different places in life, geographically and generationally, socially, and economically, we were able to learn about what the other’s experiences are and how those experiences have formed their views on the subject. We were empathetic and non-judgmental to each other’s points of view and were able to have a well-informed discussion. Our conversation was very calm and civil and rather enjoyable. Harminderjit “Harry” Singh was born in India in the mid-nineties and moved to the United States in 2016. Having grown up in a different country, he was not aware of some of the laws and other ways in which the United States has made life for black people more challenging. An example of this has to do with the way the 13th amendment is worded and how it relates to the current problem of mass incarceration. He was also unaware of the more modern-day troubles with racism in this country, such as the L.A. riots of 1992. His knowledge is mostly limited to what he has seen and experienced since moving to the U.S. in 2016. After moving to the U.S. from India, Harry started attending classes at the CSU East Bay campus in Hayward in 2019. When returning to his car around 9 p.m., after an evening class, he was stabbed by a black man who also took his laptop and other valuables. Having been a victim of such a traumatic experience, he has understandably been reluctant to support the Black Lives Matter movement. After further discussion, he said that the people who stopped to help him after the attack were also black. They tried to help stop his bleeding and called for medical assistance for him. This tragic incident was quite a setback for him in his life and his studies. Due to his injuries and the subsequent pandemic lockdown that happened in 2020, he was unable to attend school for quite some time. He is now making excellent progress in his studies and is pursuing his degree in hospitality management. Just because Harry was attacked by a black man, he doesn’t see all black people as inherently bad people and is willing and open to learning more about the systemic racism that plagues this country and why a movement like Black Lives Matter is so important. He felt like that by saying “Black Lives Matter,” that the lives of the victims of their crimes somehow didn’t matter as much. Harry demonstrated great strength in recognizing his vulnerability by understanding that what happened to him was an isolated, albeit very tragic, incident, and welcomed further discussion and education about the topic of BLM. Heather Latiolais was born in the 1970’s in a small town, in Kansas. Her family was considered to be a poor, working-class family. There was very little diversity where she grew up and she admits to being color-blind for most of her life. She was taught that discrimination against black people had ended with the Civil Rights Movement and the rescission of the Jim Crow laws and was largely unaware of the troubles black people still face. In the town she grew up in, there was only one black family, and she never knew (and still doesn’t know) if that family ever faced any troubles from the other residents. She moved to California in 2013 where there is a very large, diverse population, and she began to learn about the difficulties minority groups are still forced to deal with on a daily basis. Even though she grew up with some social disadvantages, she has become aware of the privileges she also has. Her social status has changed since she was a child and is now considered to be middle-class. She lives in a neighborhood with relatively little crime and can apply for credit with limited scrutiny. She is white and is therefore treated differently when it comes to dealing with law enforcement. She is not followed around for no reason while shopping in a store or at a mall, and she does not fear for her life when being pulled over by police for a minor traffic violation. She has heard stories of black parents instructing their kids on how to act when dealing with law enforcement in order to protect their lives. This was never something she had to be taught growing up. According to her, Black Lives Matter is a social movement that was started in 2013 in response to the acquittal of the man responsible for killing an unarmed teenager named Trayvon Martin. BLM works to bring focus to racism, inequality and discrimination experienced by people of color all over the world. It is not intended to be a statement that only black lives matter or that they matter more than any other lives. While the movement started in the United States, it has spread its influence in other parts of the world where black people are subjugated to racial hatred and marginalization. One of the major reasons for Black Lives Matter is to reduce unjustified police brutality and violence against black people. In 2021, Derek Chauvin pressed the neck of George Floyd which killed him. This incident, once again, brought to light the severe violence and brutality black people face under law enforcement. This incident started a storm of protests and movement in the country. These movements are focused on bringing justice against police for their overreaching brutality of minorities. However, this is not to say that only black lives are important and other lives are not. In her perspective, every human being is equal in the world and their lives are equally important. Heather says the ALM slogan tries to decry the BLM movement by taking attention away from the systemic racism and police brutality of black people that are rampant in the U.S. It encourages color blindness and tries to give the impression that all lives have equal risk. People are discriminated against and victimized around the world for various reasons. Women are victimized on the grounds of sexuality and poor people are marginalized for their financial situations and more. She acknowledges that police brutality and violence can happen to anyone, however, marginalization and racial discrimination are most prominently seen against the black people, as they have always been one of the most repressed groups of people in the United States. Although she does not debate that all lives do matter in real sense, the Black Lives Matter movement is essential in order to reduce police violence and brutality against black people. She believes that in order to fix the problem of racial inequality, we first have to see that there is a problem and then admit that it needs to be fixed. She thinks the BLM movement is essential in bringing to light the systemic racism in the U.S. and hopes that it will lead to more, meaningful, cooperative conversations about what can be done to fix a very broken system. Having an adversarial argument about this kind of social issue would never lead to a solution. By understanding that people are not just one way or another, and that we all have many different aspects and experiences that make us who we are, we were able to have a nice, cooperative, open-minded discussion about a difficult topic. Being able to first understand why a person may have a certain view on a particular issue is essential to having an informed conversation where both parties can come to an understanding of the other’s point of view and work towards a meaningful solution. Acknowledging our individual privileges and the privileges and disadvantages of others helps us to better see systemic problems and how they affect different demographics. Admitting that keeping any particular group of people in a lower caste is never a solution and can cause further damage to an entire population by causing feelings of desperation and thus increased acts of violence, such as the one suffered by Harry. Before this discussion, his feelings about black people were, understandably, limited to his real life, tragic interaction with a black person. The phrase “Black Lives Matter” left him feeling disparaged. Heather learned how that phrase could cause such a feeling, especially after enduring such a tragedy, and was empathetic to that situation, even though she has never been hurt in such a manner by a black person. She has had to learn to see her own privileges and remove her own color blindness in order to have the stance on Black Lives Matter that she does. Being able to have a cooperative discussion was new for her and she hopes to be able to have more of these types of conversations in the future. There are so many controversial topics that need to be discussed in a calm cooperative manner, so that mutually beneficial solutions can be reached - climate change, LGBTQ rights, transgender acceptance, economic policy, healthcare rights, and gun control, to name a few. These issues have a huge impact on our world now and in the future. Learning about someone else’s experiences and beliefs before discussing a potentially adversarial topic is extremely helpful. It helps you to think about the other person’s viewpoint before making unfounded and inaccurate judgements about them. It eliminates the urge to hurl insults, resort to name-calling, and use ad-hominem attacks. If we can start to understand that we, as a society, have the same kinds of problems, and the same basic wants and needs, maybe we can start to have more of these cooperative conversations in order to find mutually beneficial solutions.