Black Lives Matter has dominated the narrative in our society for weeks now. The slogan has become a polarizing one for a myriad of reasons, most of them revolving around failing to understand what “black lives matter” really is.

Many people have great intent behind the support for the Black Lives Matter movement, but the path to hell is paved with good intention and as the slogan continues to sweep around our culture, it’s caused division on an epic scale. Those who believe black lives matter as much as other lives do as well respond with the phrase “all lives matter,” causing people to go on the offensive against them.

Sometimes to absolute extremes.

Those people believe that those who say “all lives matter” are taking away from the visibility of the struggles the black community faces, and to a point that’s understandable. However, the majority of the black community has an issue with the concept of “black lives matter,” as according to a poll, most of the black community actually believes “all lives matter.”

(Poll: More Black People Believe “All Lives Matter” Than Strictly Think “Black Lives Matter”)

So this new video shouldn’t surprise anyone.

A recent video has been going around social media showing a group of black protesters chanting “all lives matter” as a counter-protest.

“If this nation is going to be saved, it’s going to be saved because we all come together,” said one of the counter-protesters.

“Yes, we know what happened in the past, but listen. We have to forgive the past. We have to forgive what our fathers did to your fathers,” said the man.

…"LET'S GO VIRAL"#AllLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/BsIRwMb7jU

— Stained America (@pillsofjustice) June 29, 2020

The man in the video touches on a concept that hasn’t been discussed much. Our society holds the sins of our forefathers and mothers against us as if we committed these crimes ourselves. Even if your family never committed a crime, you can be held guilty by virtue of having the same skin color or place of origin.

If we’re truly going to fix things, we need to consider each other as innocent and forgive the past wrongs of those who committed them long ago. While that may be easier said than done, it makes far more sense than holding each other accountable for sins we never committed.

Besides, holding people accountable for wrongs they never committed themselves makes it nigh impossible to make amends, and only sets a precedent for forcing others into paying prices they shouldn’t have to pay for being guilty by association alone.

All lives do indeed matter, including black lives, and putting the focus on just one group seems to cause more division than not. This is especially true when you look the response to suggesting the idea of true equality.

True equality starts, at this point in our history, with fresh start and history being considered something we learn from, not a tool by which to hold innocent people as guilty.