I’ve been silent on this blog the last several weeks, mostly preserving my mental strength to get through very busy work weeks and then using my weekends to try and disconnect from this pandemic and all the stress that builds up, sometimes unknowingly, throughout the week.
Last weekend, I thought to myself, I am going to try to post something on my blog in the coming days. Maybe I’ll even share some pictures from my interrupted birthday trip back in March. But, as the days went on, nothing I thought to write about or post seemed even remotely relevant as I watched this country continue to fracture apart and I saw the anger in response to the latest video of a white police officer killing an unarmed black person. This was compounded by another video of a white woman named Amy Cooper knowingly threatening a black man by calling the cops on him to say an African American man was threatening her life (all while staring him dead in the eyes as she changed the inflection in her voice and faked her fear to nail her performance).
So, here we are again.
I do not have the adequate words – or that mental strength I mentioned earlier – to describe how tiring, how truly exhausting it is to be a person of color bearing witness to this same situation time and time again. And to then watch the justice system fail this country and its citizens, often times its black citizens, time and time again. It is both exhausting and numbing.
I do not have the words, but I ask you to take less than 20 minutes of your time to watch and listen to Trevor Noah’s words, which accurately capture what is so wrong about what’s happening and, more importantly, why many black people feel the way they do. I do not have the words, but I feel Trevor Noah has the perfect ones:
And now we find ourselves in the midst of what feels and looks like a war; cities across the country have protests and riots, with buildings being burned to the ground, tear gas being thrown left and right, brutality and violence on both sides, and a deep anger that’s been festering for a long time. Oh, and a man residing in the White House who is only inflaming the hate and further dividing the nation. All of this within the midst of a pandemic (by the way).
Also, on the topic of these riots, let me be clear – I don’t want people to confuse protestors fighting for basic human rights with those who are opportunists and using these protests to burn and destroy people’s businesses and belongings (many of these impacted people being people of color themselves). I personally don’t agree with the destruction, but I do agree with those protesting and I absolutely understand their anger.
As I was walking this morning, I thought about how this country – this world – would respond if the video were of the same white officer putting his knee in the neck of a white woman. Or if the situation were reversed and instead of George Floyd on the ground having his face smashed into the floor and his breath being taken away from him, it was George Floyd as the police officer who, without emotion, jammed his knee in that white man’s neck as the white man gasped repeatedly saying he couldn’t breathe until he stopped moving altogether, and even then, that white man still didn’t have that knee taken off of him. All while three other police officers helped keep that white man on the ground.
Or what about if a white man decided to go for a jog and two black men pursued him, shot him in cold blood, claimed they feared for their lives and they were being attacked, then got to go home like all they did was make a quick run to the grocery store.
Can you imagine the immediate outcry at ALL levels that would’ve taken place in those scenarios? Can you imagine how much more quickly justice would be served in those situations?
This is why people have had enough and why many people are hurting. Because somewhere along the way, maybe all along, we’ve normalized and accepted this situation of a police officer or of a white person killing an unarmed black person, and we have even justified it within our heads (not all of you, but certainly some of you).
That black man shouldn’t have done anything wrong to begin with.
That black woman probably did something to deserve it.
Sound familiar?
We see these situations happen repeatedly and we’ve come to accept them. But then, at the same time, we post about how sad it is to see the Notre-Dame burning down or how we have to help the koalas who are being impacted by the wildfires in Australia. And this is not to generalize or lessen those things, but to call out how mind-bogglingly crazy it is that people are upset about those things but then they see a video or hear about a white person killing a black person in broad daylight and they shrug and decide to go bake cupcakes.
Like, what? What???
It astounds me.
I’ve increasingly realized there is a sad aspect of human nature that makes people want to feel superior in some shape or form and reinforce that superiority over and over again: white is better than black; man is better than woman; heterosexual is better than homosexual; rich is better than poor; and the list goes on. We latch onto that and build that up and create laws (or allow laws to be created) and entire systems that reinforce this superiority and keep those deemed inferior down. And, as I said, it’s exhausting and angering, sometimes to the point where people just feel numb to protect themselves. I know I certainly at times feel numb.
Still, even knowing this all happens, I have a flicker of hope that something has finally clicked and that people realize – truly realize – that there is something very, very messed up here. I hope that, once the news cycle moves on (because it will), people remember and stay upset that this is happening, and they understand there is something they can do about this.
Maybe it’s naive to think that, but I am hopeful because the alternative is to be in despair, and I’m not yet ready to give into that despair.
So, in the vein of holding onto that hope, I would be remiss if I didn’t include tangible ways for people to do something. Here are a few ideas:
Do the work - Read books and articles on this, listen, ask questions, don’t make assumptions and educate yourself
Donate - There are many organizations fighting these injustices. This article has a good list to choose from.
Take stock of your own biases - Everyone has biases. Everyone. If someone says they don’t, they’re lying. Be honest with yourself about the biases you have and work to combat them, both in your professional and personal life.
VOTE - If you have the ability to vote, then do so, and don’t just vote at the national level, ensure you vote at the local level as well. Also, don’t just vote for the person or party that has your best interests at heart, think about what’s best for society and for future generations to come.
Demand accountability - Too often we turn a blind eye, when really we should be demanding accountability from our legislators. Call. Write. Sign petitions. Demand the change.
If you’re in a position of privilege or power, speak up - We don’t live in an equal world, so if you’re someone who is in a position of privilege or power and you see or hear something that you know is wrong, speak up and speak out, repeatedly, until something changes.
