‘All Lives Matter’ theme for Black History Month forces Tennessee school to apologize
The theme of Black History Month at a middle school in Chattanooga, Tennessee, was billed as “All Lives Matter” in a newsletter sent to parents over the weekend, according to local new outlets and screenshots shared on social media.
Now the principal has apologized.
In a letter sent to parents Monday and shared on the PTSA Facebook page, East Ridge Middle School Principal Christy Caldwell Drake — who is Black — said she wanted to apologize for “not more fully considering the context” surrounding the “All Lives Matter” theme.
“I firmly believe that every child that walks through the doors of East Ridge Middle School matters, and my heart was to emphasize how important each one of our students are to me,” she wrote.
Families received a school bulletin Sunday updating them on the district’s return to in-person instruction that included a note about celebrating Black History Month in February. The words “ALL LIVES MATTER” were typed in bold blue letters next to the theme, a screenshot posted by WTVC shows.
The theme has since been deleted from the document, which was created and shared using Google Docs, according to WRCB. It now says “February - Black History Month.”
Social justice and racial equality advocates have long decried “All Lives Matter” as a way to derail the conversation surrounding the disparate treatment of Black people in the U.S. In 2016, The New York Times described the phrase “as a way to remove focus from the specific grievances of Black Americans.”
As one Twitter user wrote at the time, “#AllLivesMatter is like I go to the Dr for a broken arm and he says ‘All Bones Matter’ ok but right now let’s take care of this broken one.”
The Black Lives Matter movement was reignited last summer as protests for George Floyd rocked the nation, which prompted counter-protesters to say “all lives matter.” Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died after now-fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for about eight minutes, as three other officers didn’t intervene.
“No one’s saying that your life doesn’t matter,” lifestyle blogger Ayana Lage told CBS News in July. “What we’re saying… is all lives can’t matter until Black lives matter.”
Some parents at East Ridge Middle School raised similar concerns after the principal’s newsletter was released.
“I really don’t want to be the white lady calling people out on this kind of thing, but the point is we’re never going to change if we don’t, right?” Jessica Arnold, whose daughter goes to the middle school, told WTVC.
Drake said the theme was inspired by a mural in the school that reads “Where Every Child Matters.” She also described herself as a “Black woman in leadership” who experienced the fight for equality alongside her father, a local pastor and Civil Rights leader in Tennessee.
“I embrace civil rights, Black History Month and the sacrifices that have been made by those who came before me,” she wrote. “I hope that my students, many of whom look like me, believe in the possibilities of their unlimited potential.”
This story was originally published February 2, 2021 at 3:13 PM with the headline "‘All Lives Matter’ theme for Black History Month forces Tennessee school to apologize."
