2020 Recap: Black Lives Matter vs Blue Lives Matter

Then & Now

DELMARVA – The Summer of 2020 sparked protest and activism nationwide after the killing of an Unarmed Black Man. The question is, how did people on Delmarva feel on both sides back then, and where they believe the country is headed now

“I can’t Breathe”

On May 25th, 2020, the country was changed forever as we watched for over 8 minutes George Floyd’s life slip away before our very eyes. Sworn to protect and serve, Minneapolis Officer Derick Chauvin kneeled on his neck while he continually plead for his life, saying “I can’t Breathe”.

Protests in Memphis and Los Angeles followed days later, and by May 28th -over 2,000 cities and towns including Delmarva, and 60 countries were all chanting “Black Lives Matter”. This one moment that reignited years of pain, sparked months of protest and encouraged a plethora of hash tags, with #BlackLivesMatter at the top.

Black Lives Matter

A movement originally started in 2013, after Trayvon Martin’s killer was found not guilty in court. 7 years and over 700 black deaths later, the movement gained the most traction it had ever seen after the killing of Floyd. For months, all 4 corners of the nation echoed the words “No Justice, No Peace”.

Groups across Delmarva were deep in the fight like founder of The Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice, Charlotte King who explains the purpose of the phrase. “Despite the history in this country where black lives really did not matter. Black Lives or Black property as we were called for many years, many decades were there for a base utilitarian purpose, but black lives are very significant.”

Backing the Blue

From Salisbury to Sussex County, be it students or seniors, streets were flooded with support for the Black struggle and some “Backed the Blue”. Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis said the movement called for accountability which has made it harder to do their jobs, and the hashtags don’t help.

“We all saw what defunding the police did, it literally destroyed cities. You never hear the terms “Defund the Police” anymore, because it didn’t work. It never worked… I couldn’t give a crap about Blue Lives Matter anymore than I do Black Lives Matter, it doesn’t matter to me. We all matter, everybody matters, and we all should be serving one another.”

Ally vs Anti 

Executive Director of the Alliance Joseph Lawson says Floyd’s death sparked activism and allies, but he says it also showed those who were “anti”.

“Instead of creating a win-win where Black lives matter, blue lives matter, all lives matter, instead of that, it came to be either- or. I think it a very disingenuous way of saying we don’t really care about the welfare of “your” people. If there’s any doubt whatsoever about a blue life which is just flat-out wrong. It misconstrued the meaning of it making it and either or when it should have been a yes and-”

We Matter, Too

King says hindsight is 20/20. “What I am sorry about, it that we didn’t say, “Black Lives Matter, also” because the phrase, “Black Lives Matter gave everyone the opportunity to say oh “children matter” oh you know, “food matters”.

She says that this is a meaning that has been missed by many. “That’s all I’ve heard since #Black Lives Matter, everyone found something that “mattered”, so they lost the meaning of the words.”

Unity or Division?

5 years after that horrible tragedy, communities have either come together or drifted further apart. The phrase “Blue Lives Matter” can come with backlash, and the following people were brave enough to share how those in uniform have been affected by the movement. A local widow shares what it’s like when that life that matters, is both Black and Blue.

Blue Lives Matter

Created to counter anti-police movements after the 2014 killings of officer Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu. With an average of 64 officers killed a year since then, more and more people rep the “Thin Blue Line”.

June 12, 2022, Wicomico County Corporal Glenn Hilliard was killed on duty 10 days shy of his 42nd birthday. His widow Tashica speaks on how hard it was to be berated, as a black man with a badge. “Glen was a Black Police officer. When he passed away my position was his Black and Blue life mattered.”

Black with a Badge 

She goes on to say, “I mean, he was a black man as a police officer. That was difficult- it’s difficult in this society… The racial slur clearly indicated that Glen was a traitor or that he had turned his back on his colored people by being a police officer and coming into a black home and doing his job basically.”

Despite it all she says he still backed his community even if he didn’t back the movement. “During the Black Lives Matter movement, Glen wasn’t’ on board unfortunately because he felt like it was divisive. He felt like it made things worse instead of better… Glen grew up in a predominately Black neighborhood, he went to an HBCU- but the way he conducted himself was everyone matters, everyone’s safety was what his concern was.”

Skin vs Suit 

Charlotte King says we all share a common humanity; however, a job description is not the same as skin color, so “blue lives matter” is a misuse.

“Every life matters, I agree. But as I said, somehow every time we develop something unique someone takes away from it… I would think of a different motto. “Blue Lives must be responsible, Blue lives must take their oath seriously, Blue lives must give up their racism.”

Street Justice

Sheriff Lewis says some unnecessary interactions can be avoided. “There is a place to challenge authority, and that’s in the courtroom, not on the streets. You know, when a law enforcement officer believes he or she has probable cause to make an arrest, you know, you might not agree with it, you might disagree with it, but you got to say to yourself, ‘I’m going to have my day in court’.

Looking Ahead

Ultimately Delmarva doesn’t agree on where we are, but everyone believes we still need progress. King says, “I’d love to be hopeful. But I think that hope and patience, sometimes were deterrents to action. I think we’ve been patient enough it’s been 400 plus years. Everybody’s always saying to me “oh be patient Charlotte.” Why? So, you have more time to delay? No! The present climate I think we are in danger.”

Meanwhile, here’s Sheriff Lewis’ view. “It’s never been bad here in Wicomico County I’ve always had a Great relationship with the citizens here in our county. especially my African American community… I believe in Law and Order, I truly do, and I think that’s the only way we’re going to have a civil society if we maintain Law and Order and to do that, we have to be part of the solution not part of the problem.”

Polls in the summer of 2020 estimated that between 15-26 million people had participated at some point in the demonstrations in the United States, making the protests the largest in US history.