&gt; The statement &quot;Black Lives Matter&quot; offends me, because it makes the assumption that because I&#x27;m not black, I don&#x27;t think black lives matter<p>No. Statements don&#x27;t make assumptions. People make assumptions. And you are the particular person making these assumptions. Personally, I make different ones.<p>The way I (as another white person) read it is as a wake-up call. I think it wouldn&#x27;t work as a slogan if white people truly thought that black lives didn&#x27;t matter. It&#x27;s a reminder to me that although black lives do matter to me, the system I participate in (and benefit from) treats black lives as worth less.<p>To me, &quot;Black Lives Matter&quot; is just the opposite of ethnocentric thinking. It&#x27;s a way to expose existing ethnic bias so we can fight ethnocentric systems. Until people admit there&#x27;s a problem, we can&#x27;t fix the problem. When I hear (or say) &quot;Black Lives Matter&quot;, I think it&#x27;s a way of pointing out the ongoing disadvantages that are carried forward from our deeply egregious past.