Social Death Part 2

            The new movements in response to police brutality are numerous things to different people. Depending upon positionality to the situation, people find some movements more relevant or fairer than others. Placing Cacho in conversation with these movements is interesting for various reasons. Each movement has it’s own specific target with it’s own political agenda.

            “All Lives Matter” is known as the counter movement to “Black Lives Matter,” but some view ALM as a more inclusive movement. Personally, I think ALM is another way for people to justify saying that black people whine too much about the situations somehow find themselves. ALM is the majority response to BLM. I think Cacho would place ALM as a form of white entitlement because they are under the illusion that all bodies are treated equally under the law. Their thoughts that ALM is the answer better serves to prove that the people involved in that movement do not understand their privileges, and don’t understand reasoning for the BLM movement. While it can be said that ALM is not exactly the group that Cacho would advocate for, I don’t think the other movements are the answer either.

            “Black and Brown Lives Matter” both have agendas that are meant to help people of color, but they do it at each other’s expense. While there should be light shed on these issues respectively, both of these movements are vying for attention in the mainstream. Cacho notes how bodies of color have to fight among themselves to gain attention from the group in power. They subvert the power of other minority groups so they can get a chance to change their status – which I cannot blame them for. Who wants to be at the bottom of the power totem pole? BLM and BLM have wonderful intentions as political activist groups, but they are playing into the hands of those in power because they are undermining each other for attention. Both of these movements seem more like the oppression Olympics than a real activist movements, both are still trying to get attention from the mainstream by calling on the shortcoming or lack of inclusivity of the other group.

            I think Cacho would call these movements a response to the power dynamic, and a genuine attempt at social change. However, these movements are using tactics that don’t serve all bodies of color because they are still attempting to place value on bodies as more valuable than others. For the other there is still an Other that they can place underneath them, which does not solve the problems that these movements want it places them in the position to affect another body of color. The answer to these groups problems is not the ALM movement – since it doesn’t address anything other than reinforcing white denial and power.