06/02/2020
I first marched with in 2015. At the time, I‘d hear others complain about how disruptive it was, saying “all lives matter” without understanding the meaning behind Black Lives Matter. They didn’t know about systemic racism — that it is real, and that it disproportionately disadvantages people of color, sometimes fatally.
It was new to me then too. There’s much more to racism than meets the eye; it extends beyond express racism, and much of it goes unnoticed because many people refuse to acknowledge their own subconscious racial biases (not everyone has the humility to face what shames them). Even worse, while said racists are in denial, they may be in positions of power, and, whether knowingly or not, disproportionately hurting POC. Add pressure and weapons to the mix and you have yourself spilled blood: higher fatality and incarceration rates amongst our black counterparts than any other race.
This discourse and it’s psychological nuances are still new. Easier to simplify and cherry-pick anecdotes that support the narrative we do understand, than to analyze the deeper complexities at bay. We still have a ways to go.
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This week, I joined again in protest and saw many of our white allies marching with us. Their hearts are in the right place.
I also saw many white people NOT demonstrating peacefully. I saw them antagonizing and threatening police officers, throwing bottles and wreaking what havoc they could. (My eyes aren’t everywhere though; I’d be remiss to assume it was only white people, especially given the sheer number of protesters, but I digress.)
So here is my question for white protesters who were NOT protesting peacefully: how do you think the cops would’ve reacted if you weren’t white? And who, among protesters, do you think will be blamed?
You are noble for supporting BLM. Now I implore you to consider, what can you do today to become a better ally than you were yesterday?
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#✊🏽 @ Barclays Center
