BLACK OUT TUESDAY
* This is not an invitation to argue. I do not usually discuss politics here, but this is more than politics, this is history *
1. If you are politically sensitive move along.
2. This post is lengthy
3. It took a bit of courage to post this, so if you have ANYTHING racially insensitive to say, be prepared for my savage response.
This movement wasn’t unexpected. People are over it and are rightfully mad. Some people are so dense, they honestly believe this is over “ONE senseless officer.” Others only see the damage the riots are causing. But this is a pivotal moment in history.
Though efforts don’t go completely unnoticed, sadly peaceful protesting doesn’t always seem to translate the pain and unfairness that many people are feeling and want others to feel. Peaceful protesting doesn’t create a sense of urgency in our government officials or in enough people to take action and make steps towards measurable change. Even when peaceful protesters rally to create awareness, people get mad and revert to violence. It’s a tragedy. What I’ve seen from videos of the peaceful protests are angry outsiders yelling at protestors for peacefully protesting???!!!!!
With that said, I don’t believe violent rioting is the answer. However, I am struggling with this internal dichotomy because, though what we are experiencing is unacceptable, and unfair for many innocent people, in ways it's necessary because many people in this country don’t and can’t understand the magnitude of what is going on. Some people aren’t innocent and are mindlessly racist and will continue to be because that is all they know. The “it is what it is” mindset invariably trivializes the social justice issues we are faced with today and only contributes to the problem. Though I don’t condone violence, I also personally understand the pain the riots are trying to translate. Because I live with that pain daily.
We live in a broken country built on discrimination and inherited bias. Despite a history of irrefutable evidence, racism continues to influence our social justice systems and educational systems. By not acting we perpetuate this continuum of structural, historical, and systemic bias. And sadly, many people still don’t understand what that means exactly. Think back to Standing Rock and the water crisis of Flint Michigan, because these are perfect examples.
When a person doesn’t fully understand something, sometimes the automatic response is to avoid it, or ignore it and pretend it doesn’t exist. But in order to progress we must face this issue directly.
Innocent people have been imprisoned, killed, judged, and underrepresented for CENTURIES. This movement is about changing the history books, because people are over history repeating itself. Blacks, browns and immigrants can’t trust the police or government in certain areas. Police brutality is a serious issue that every color citizen in our country NEEDS to reflect on. If you haven’t reflected on it, you are contributing to the problem.
Even when we try to trust, there is ALWAYS someone (possibly you) who doesn’t understand what an insensitive dehumanizing micro-aggression is. The fact we haven’t been mandated to address micro-aggressions in school and in all workplaces once again, contributes to the problem.
I can’t wrap my head around why, as a country, we’ve continued to diminish the voices of those who are directly affected by racism. We know that racism exists and yet the continuance of racism hasn’t made enough people mad enough to take action. Even when we know it’s ridiculous and unnecessary. Instead, talking about racism often paralyzes people. WHY? Because we don’t know what to do. But ironically, we perpetuate racism of when we don’t address it.
Why is it that it’s 2020 and we are JUST NOW realizing the madness it creates? Because colloquially, we have learned to minimize racial slurs as jokes, so people are expected to just bite their lip in silence and take it EVEN when its RIGHT in front of their face. This behavior attributes to the problem.
What we are seeing today, is a result of change not happening quickly enough. Though many of us don't know what to do and don’t know where to begin helping, we can no longer pretend that racism isn’t alive, and everything is fine. It’s exactly why we are here in the first place.
