Do all lives really matter?

This archived article was written by: Rodrigo Leon

A massive terrorist attack was launched on Paris, France, killing approximately 120 people on Nov. 13. Now Facebook, shining in blue, white and red, grieved and given their condolences to all the people who died as a result of these attacks. This story erupted support for France, yet how can we forget all others who suffer throughout the world.
Not only did 120 people die in France, 43 died in Beirut and 26 in Baghdad. Now these are the two most commonly known tragedies, yet most people don’t know how many died. The problem is that these are not the only tragedies happening, nor are they the worst.
On April 2, 2015, 147 people were shot and killed by terrorists at a university in Kenya. Every weekend hundreds of people die in Caracas, Venezuela and civil wars in Sudan displace hundreds of thousands and kill thousands.
July 3, 2015, 160 people were killed in Nigeria by Boko Haram and in Jan. 2015, 2,000 people were killed in Nigeria.
Where are the Kenyan flags, #PrayforVenezuela, Peace for Sudan pictures, or the insatiable hunger for war on Boko Haram. Most people haven’t heard about these attacks, nor do they really care. We excused the death of thousands of innocent Syrian and Iraqi people in the bombing following the Paris terrorist attacks.
The fact is, if you Google, “Syrian bombings 2015 death toll,” the entire search consists of news about the Paris attacks and not a single word of how many innocent Syrians died, is a problem.
The problem is that America doesn’t care about these people. America justifies launching hundreds of air strikes on Syrian cities because four marines were killed in Tennessee. This literally equates to four American lives to hundreds of thousands of Syrian lives, or about one American being worth about 25,000 Syrian lives.
Now tell me that America, or the West for that matter, thinks all lives matter. America prioritizes white lives and thus when 128 white French people die, it is the new 9/11, but when 180 Venezuelans, 147 Kenyans or 2,000 Nigerians die, it is just another day. People trivialize the death of Blacks, Latinos, Arabs and any other minority.
The next time you look at your French flag Facebook profile, take a moment to think about all those we fail to care for or represent.
We need to stop pretending that society treats all lives equally, because 120 white people got more prayers and attention than hundreds of non-whites killed every day. But obviously #alllivesmatter.