Where I Stand: Racism

Last week, a terrible thing happened. People were murdered while attending their church. They welcomed someone in, and that person turned on them. There is absolutely no denying this was a terrible thing, and like most, my heart goes out to the victims and their families, and the survivors who had to witness such a horrific scene.
But something bothered me about some of the outcry that followed. It's something I've seen floating around for a while, but it flared up in the aftermath of this event. The hashtag: #blacklivesmatter.
Now, it's not that I don't feel that black lives don't matter, because they do. But what about Hispanic lives? Asian lives? Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Scandinavian, Polynesian and just about everyone else on the planet?
Another thing that bothered me was the blaming of "white males". Saying white males are all horrible, murdering bigots, that is racism. The hypocrisy really got under my skin.
Allow me to explain. I am far from racist. I wasn't raised that way. I'm married to a Native American, my sister married a Filipino. I grew up surrounded by Asians, Middle Easterners, and Polynesians in the melting pot of Western Sydney. I never understood racism because I learned at a young age that everyone is an individual. Their race simply dictated the color of their skin and often different delicious foods eaten at home. For me, cultural diversity was beautiful, fun, and something to learn from.
Sometime in high school, I heard a group of boys spouting off about "ignorant white idiots." It hurt my soul. I had friends from all walks of life that never saw me as one of the "white kids." I was just... me.
Now I wasn't ignorant to the problems in certain demographics and areas where different races lived in masses, but it seemed all the races had issues in some form or another, so I just looked to the heart of the people around me and ignored the stereotypes.
So, going back to the hashtag. By singling out one race, blacks, in a way we are sticking them up the back of the bus again. By using this hashtag, we are putting them in the corner and pointing while yelling "them, right there!" We are encouraging segregation in a more subtle form. We think we're helping, but really, we're not. We're placing signs around their necks and saying they need to be treated differently to everyone else. But isn't true equality looking beyond that? Looking to their hearts?
I know there are tons of talented, beautiful, kindhearted blacks out there. Blacks who work hard and don't let ignorant morons drag them down or single them out. Their lives matter not because of their skin, but because of who they are. This is the same for whites, greens, purple with pink polka dots, whoever else knuckles down and works their hearts out to make a difference. That was Martin Luther King's dream; that all mankind will be acknowledged for their merit, not the color of their skin. When we single out blacks, we spit on his martyrdom. We laugh at Rosa Park's bravery and conviction.
What we should be saying is: #everylifematters