Billie Eilish says white people who insist ‘all lives matter’ should ‘shut the f**k up’
‘If all lives matter why are black people killed just for being black?’ Eilish asked
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Your support makes all the difference.Billie Eilish has condemned white people who insist “all lives matter”, instead urging them to recognise their own privilege.
Writing in a message posted to her Instagram, the singer/songwriter said she would “lose her mind” if she hears one more white person deflecting from the ongoing targeting of black people by law enforcement.
“Will you shut the f**k up?” Eilish wrote. “No one is saying your life doesn’t matter. No one is saying your life is not hard. No one is saying literally anything at all about you… all you MFs do is find a way to make everything about yourself. This is not about you. You are not in need. You are not in danger.”
Eilish wrote the message in the wake of protests across the USA instigated by the killing of George Floyd. Floyd was killed by a police officer who continued to kneel on his neck despite Floyd pleading for his life.
“You are privileged whether you like it or not,” Eilish continued. “Society gives you privilege just for being white. You can be poor, you can be struggling, and still your skin colour is giving you more privilege than you realise.”
She added that white privilege allows white people to live their lives “without having to worry about surviving simply because of your skin colour”.
“If all lives matter why are black people killed just for being black?” she asked. “Why are immigrants persecuted? Why are white people given opportunities that people of other races aren’t? The slogan #blacklivesmatter does not mean that other lives don’t. It’s calling attention to the fact that society clearly thinks black lives don’t f***ing matter! And they f***ing do!”
Eilish’s message has been liked more than four million times on Instagram, with stars including Halle Berry, Ty Dolla Sign, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ava DuVernay and Joan Smalls praising it in the comments section.
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