All lives matter is the message we should send our kids

When you live in what is supposed to be a new century, when everybody is supposed to be treated equally, as long as they are not endangering others, and you still see assumptions regarding different ethnicities when it comes to dealing with other people, then I can say that this is a hopeless life.

A black boy is always raised with the complex that a white person will discriminate against him where a white boy is concerned, assuming that black people in general are dangerous and tend to hurt white people by nature. This sadly brings me to the story of an Indian tribe’s wise man, who was asked by his grandson: “Grandpa, why do some people have evil and others have goodness in them?” He answered: “When we are born, we have two wolves always fighting inside of us, the evil and the good.” His Grandson anxiously asked: “Which wolf is going to win in me, Grandpa?”“The one that you feed the most,” the wise man said.

If we raise our kids and feed them with racism, then we shouldn’t be surprised with the outcome. But racism is a two-way street and how often do you see a black person accusing an officer of racism just because he pulled him over for a random check? A civilized world has to address these issues in its society and be frank about them so that a real change can happen.

Regarding George Floyd, I, as a whitish Lebano-British guy, really felt bad for what happened to him. One of the arresting officers used a technique on him known as a neck restraint (many police forces around the world use it). The part where the officer holding him down crossed the line is when Floyd repeatedly said that he couldn’t breathe but he kept pushing down on his neck until he sadly suffocated.

If the officer had been black, then this case might have been closed with an investigation incriminating the officer for using excessive force to detain a suspect. But, since he was white, then let us burn cities and cause a dangerous pandemic to spread in the name of equality and saying no to racism. Well, that is also a kind of racism and, as I said before, in my view at least, it doesn’t turn a suspect into a hero just because he died during his arrest.

To state such a fact is dangerous nowadays and I might need to look over my shoulder for a while just because I do not go with the flow. But to be fair in life is a very hard choice and we are truly all very discriminatory, whatever our skin color is, just by carrying signs and publishing bold slogans stating that “Black Lives Matter.” This is a discriminatory act and will spread hatefulness from young black kids toward anyone that is not black.

All lives matter is the slogan I would carry in the streets and on my social networking profiles. That is the only non-discriminative message we can send to our kids for a safer future for all.

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Anthony Azoury is a media consultant with 20 years of experience in in-flight media.