I'm going to be blunt.
If you talked shit about Kaepernick as I did initially but have nothing to say about the deaths of black men at the hands of taxpayer funded public servants you are a racist. Period. I don't care how many black friends you have. I don't care if those black friends co-sign your unwavering loyalty to every form of law enforcement. I don't care if they allow you to call them nigga/nigger or any other conjugation present, past, future participle or derivative therein of the word "negro" that you think gives you a black pass. I don't care how many black people you've slept with so you think you understand us. You're a racist. Just own it so we can all move forward with the discussion. And in anticipation of the usual gutless, victim blaming responses, I've taken the liberty of preparing a list of answers that I'm sure any black person of any origin who's lived in this country for more than 5 years would appreciate.
1. "You're not oppressed! Look at how much money (insert black celebrity here) makes! I mean even the President is black! What are you all complaining about?"
Right. Because we all share one bank account at the Black Bank of Black America where TyQan and 'em from down the block can make direct withdrawals from the Black America Sovereign Wealth fund in which every black celeb from Oprah to LeBron to Obama makes monthly deposits to hold us all down until our welfare check arrives. We all must have forgotten about that. All 37,685,848 of us.
2. "I'm the real victim of racism here! You and your Black Lives Matter terrorist thugs just want every special privilege for yourself and not have to work for anything! Hard working black folks don't have time to go protest and block the highways to complain over nothing!"
For the the slow....let's settle this once and for all.
Racism = systemic mistreatment.
Like a loan officer refusing to approve a mortgage in an affluent neighborhood because the applicant is melaninated (I love that word, thanks Blavity). Or creating laws that specifically target black people. You know, the stuff that keeps African Americans from latching on to those bootstraps you're so fond of. The ones you've probably never had to pull yourself up by while enjoying the massive wealth and privilege that 87 (1776-1863) years of free labor and another 150 (1864-2016) of disproportionately underpaid labor brings. Oh and let's not forget that if your a white male, you've always had the right to vote and be considered a full person, and been allowed to live wherever you choose.
Prejudice = an opinion usually held by assholes.
A non-white person that hates you, Mr./Ms. Victim of "Reverse Racism," usually has no power to act on their opinion other than to make you feel bad. You have the option of literally turning on your heels and go about your life as if that person never existed. You never have to worry about losing a job because a non-white person said he/she didn't like you. Unless, of course, you posted some racist shit on social media first...then you're on your own. (No, that's not PC bullshit. It's called not being an asshole.) As a member of the "default" class/culture, however, your low opinion of us (born out of decades of stereotypes designed to make mainstream America think we deserve discrimination) can create racism...and actually kill people. Like #TerrenceCrutcher, #PhilandoCastile, #AltonSterling, #TamirRice, #JohnCrawfordIII, #SandraBland and #EricGarner despite the fact that murdering black people for being black is no longer legal. (Feels like it though.) If you want to count not being profiled, harassed, strip searched, disrespected, jailed and/or killed by the people who are charged to protect you then yes. I want special privileges. All of them.
Gimme. Gimme. Gimme.
Protests are usually done by students, who don't work because they're in school and by activists who's actual job is bringing attention to cultural issues. So they are doing their jobs by telling you they want to stop dying at the hands of crooked cops. If they block the highway, you still get to go home. It's an inconvenience, not a terrorist act. Just because you're afraid when a bunch of black folks are standing together in unison doesn't mean....*sigh* never mind.
"Obey the law and you won't get shot!"
Exercising your rights is not disobeying the law.
Calling out an officer for a bullshit traffic stop is not disobeying the law.
Talking back is not disobeying the law.
Displaying a weapon in an open carry state is not disobeying the law.
Police are also subject to the law. (At least they're supposed to be)
It used to be illegal for people of different races to marry.
It used to be illegal for anyone other than land owning white men to vote. The law is flawed and subject to the prejudices (see above) of the people who write and enforce it.
Summary executions are rarely warranted but it happens to black folks way more often than it should given statistical norms. Yes nominally more white people are shot by officers but rich people pay nominally more taxes than you do too. Smaller pot, smaller numbers, much bigger impact.
"You never protest Black on Black Crime!"
We do. All the time. It just doesn't affect you so you never pay attention until you try to use it to shut black people up. And stop saying that. If you want to really go there "White on White" crime kills far more people. There's only one demographic that has the single gunman mass murder market locked up tight.
"If you don't like it here, LEAVE!"
We built this damned country together. Brick by lash driven blood soaked brick. The first man to die for American independence was a black man. We have fought and bled for America in every war its ever waged and served in its politics before we were even considered human. Who the hell do you think you are to tell us to leave? You don't own America. You never did.
I've already spoken at length about the steps that need to be taken to end this cycle and I'm not one to repeat myself. However, this cycle of people who are supposed to be public servants disproportionately killing a segment of its employers is the definition of insanity. Even if you couldn't care less about the people being killed, which you should if you've ever uttered the phrase All Live Matter, it's your tax dollars that are paying for the screw ups of these incompetent "officers." These settlements, which I think are patently insulting by putting a monetary value on a person's potential, are coming out of your pocket. How about we stop spending millions of dollars in hush money to grieving families and start spending it on hiring better educated officers? One's that might have a more complete accounting of our history and aren't so quick to pull the trigger because they've been culturally conditioned to believe that all lives really don't matter equally. Can we do that? Or am I the one who's crazy?
...Til Next Week.
