“Police Lives Matter”
(Note to the reader:
this article is intended as a bridge, to build humility, understanding, and to help
us both to be better allies).
In light of the recent Police Officer acquittal in Cleveland
OH of massacring two Black people and the Police shooting of two Black men in
my home town, alongside my affinity as a minority-group Ally, I have felt
challenged to engage in many discussions concerning my own role as an ally and
as a contributor to the problem, of which I believe both to be true.
The phrases “Police Lives Matter”, “I Support the Police”,
and also “All Lives Matter” strike a chord, and I have seen many responses of
anger and upset in response to them along with counter-responses of continued
misunderstanding.
I think, how I might best be able to serve in this entire
discussion and attempts to navigate “what now” is in trying to help build
bridges of understanding, about the situation at hand, about the underlying
issues with these statements, and how to be better allies, at this time.
I have been trying to think of an analogy that might help
convey the problem. Addressing both
those who state “Police Lives Matter” and those of you who understand what that
statement means and in your efforts to be more inclusive state that “All Lives
Matter”. This is what I have come up with, why, right now, it is and must be “Black
Lives Matter”.
Imagine for a moment that you are a parent, you have just
lost your beloved child. It may have
been following a long terminal illness or suddenly, unexpectedly; you are bereaved.
At the memorial service, put together for loved ones to show
their support, many are in attendance, some who have or have had children, some
who have not.
Suddenly, a very aggressive person comes running in, shouting
“All children deserve to die, I hate all children”. Extreme, obvious, overtly anti-child and
unquestionably wrong, anti-social behavior.
Now another person comes running in holding a sign that
reads “Long live the Doctors of (fill in the hospital the child died in)”. Also extreme, also aggressive, not overtly
anti-child, however there is the implication of support of the potentially
responsible party as opposed to the child.
Another person, who cares about you (the parent), now comes
over, they embrace you in a hug, they then say to you
Such a tragedy, I know exactly how
you feel, I lost a dog once. You know, I
know just the thing to fix this problem, we need to build more dog parks, it
would be a safer place for dogs and also for kids, and everyone would be safer,
happier, better this way.
This person is well intentioned, they believe they are being
supportive, helpful. Hopefully you (the
reader) can empathize with how this response may not feel supportive to the
parent, and in fact the parent may instantly respond in anger and upset at this
person, the response was insensitive to say the least.
A moment later, another person comes over, gives the parent
a hug, and says “Oh, the heartbreak, I can feel your pain, I too have lost; at
this time, what can I do to support you”?
And then they are silent, they listen, they do not correct, do not
attempt to change, just do what the parent asks, even if that is to be silent, or
even to go away. There is no suggestion
of another action, there is just listening and supporting how the bereaved
parent requests to be supported. Later,
this person may go to that other person, the one who lost the dog, and they may
try to help them understand how, in the future, they could be actively supportive,
help this person to understand how their comment was insensitive, and what a
more sensitive, caring, compassionate, and truly supportive comment and action
could be (listen and respond with how the parent indicates they would feel most
supported by).
What this story is missing is the piece about how or rather
why that child died. You see, that child
was Black (Brown, Chinese, Jewish, Gay, Transgender), they are now dead Because
of their identity. Oh no you say!, they
were not lynched in the street, accompanied by a sign about how they are there
because they are Black, no!, racism’s a thing of the past in the United States,
at least in my town! Heartbreakingly,
you are wrong. Racism is alive and very
well in every city, town, and most homes in the United States, in every
country.
Be it that they went to the hospital and another child was,
quite reasonably it will be said, believed to be in a more dire condition, or
in greater need, they ( a white child, quite a “coincidence”) are seen first,
they receive the care, the Black child does not. Or, perhaps the ambulance is called, hearing
the mother’s voice on the line, or the child’s name, the dispatch sends the ambulance
to look into a treed cat, it is, after all, on the way, before getting to the child,
costing the required time to save the child.
Or, perhaps it assumed that the Black child’s family does not have the
money for a costly procedure and therefore it is not mentioned; the doctor
wouldn’t want to offer hope where there is none after all.
Or maybe, it is that child was shot by a Police officer. Oh, oh! You will say, what did he or she
do?! Does it matter? In this country, in theory, citizens
suspected of a crime, are to be tried by a jury of their peers, in a court of
law and an appropriate sentence that fits the crime is to be carried out; they
are not supposed to be executed in the street.
Still, you will say, I am not racist, I am not contributing to the
problem, nor is my town, and none of these are cases of racism, of
discrimination. Here is where you are
wrong, they all are cases of racism, they are all cases of the “child died
Because they are Black”. Had the child
been my child, my able bodied, blonde haired, blue eyed, identifies as the same
gender he was born as, heterosexual, Olympian, he would have been seen immediately,
the ambulance would have been sent to him immediately, as his parent I would
have been notified of every possible procedure, no matter the cost or complexity,
the Police would never have been called in the first place, or if they were
called, they would have spoken to my child and likely called me, with no
further incident.
This is not to say that “All Lives” don’t matter, they
do. But in a time of immediate response
to a tragedy, a tragedy perpetuated by and perpetuating racism, the issues at
hand must not be confused or crossed over.
Support and let grieve those who have just lost, ask and Listen for how
you might be supportive. Let the other
conversations about how white middle class kids get shot too (and they do) or
how police lives are taken too (and they are) wait for a moment, suspend
them. Yes, “more dog parks” could
benefit everyone, but that conversation, about “Everyone” is a different
conversation, for another time, on a different platform, under different
circumstances.
The reality of this country, no matter the state, no matter
the town, is that racism, specifically, is alive and well. I do not say this to make you feel bad, to
shame you, to make you feel defensive, none of that is constructive. I say this that you may come to understand the
nature of inequality and continued racism in this country, so that it can actually,
in Reality, be deliberately brought to an End.
Racism is rarely overt in this country, it is more subtle. Racism is a power structure, it is
perpetuated in the limiting of resources and constructs that enable each member
of this society to achieve their own greatest potential, acquire the necessary
resources to live, safely, to participate in this country’s ideal that Every
member of this society has the right to LIFE, Liberty, and the Pursuit of
Happiness. Racism (not discrimination)
can only flow from white to Black, from those with the power, with the privilege,
to those without it. It is those with
the power, a miniscule number of white, male, heterosexual, Christian, able
bodied individuals, who ensure they keep all of the power, all of the resources. Some of that power and privilege is flown
down to a few others who are also white, to help inflame, confuse, and
perpetuate the myth of equality in this country. However, if you are white, even if you were “born
in a trailer park and suffered terribly” while growing up, you are a person of privilege,
especially if you are male, able bodied, and identify with your birth gender,
are heterosexual, and better yet, if you are Christian as well. If so, you are going to have to work
particularly hard to not be part of the problem. You may not be actively racist, but chances
are high you are passively racist. You
get the interview, you get the better price on the car, you get the loan, you
get the girl, you get the job, the Only difference, is your skin – this is
Racism. And while you are accepting
these entitlements, these privileges, these advancements, you are contributing
to racism. I am not saying don’t take
the job. I am saying, be aware of what
got you where you are, and the real reason why, I am saying be more critical in
your examination of what is happening and why.
Let us use my hometown as an example. Olympia does not have Black people rioting in
the streets, nor does it have Black people hanging from trees, so progressive
of Olympia so hugely radical, left, diverse, open, supportive community – no racism
here! NO – WRONG!! - less than 2% of
Olympia’s population are Black people. You
may wonder what is significant about that statistic, perhaps you think it is coincidental
after all, anyone can live anywhere, you say.
But no, Olympia was a “sundown town” meaning Olympia made sure that it
was Very clear that no one but white people were welcome here, meaning Olympia
is missing its diversity, there are very few Black people in Olympia by
design. A sundown town made it very
clear that if you were Black, Chinese, Jewish, you had better not be in that
town, not go home and close your door, but pass on through, do not stay, you
are not welcome here, and most likely if you do stay your life will be made
intolerable if not ended all together.
You say you are not racist.
Of course you are not racist, being racist is frowned upon, it’s an ugly
thing. Sadly, again, you are wrong. To quote a quote:
I sometimes visualize the ongoing
cycle of racism as a moving walkway at the airport. Active racist behavior is
equivalent to walking fast on the conveyor belt. The person engaged in active
racist behavior has identified with the ideology of our White supremacist
system and is moving with it. Passive racist behavior is equivalent to standing
still on the walkway. No overt effort is being made, but the conveyor belt moves
the bystanders along to the same destination as those who are actively walking.
But unless they are walking actively in the opposite direction at a speed
faster than the conveyor belt – unless they are actively anti-racist – they
will find themselves carried along with the others. – I do not know the
original person who said this, so for now I will give credit to who I did hear
this from Steffany Ann Brown
To those of you who say “Police Lives Matter” or “I Support
the Police” what you are actually saying is “I am actively racist; I support
and condone police shooting with intent to kill (whether or not they succeed in
doing so) and otherwise brutalizing Black people”. That is the translation. To those of you saying “All Lives Matter”,
you are the person standing still on the conveyor belt, you are the person who
lost their dog, you are being insensitive at best, passively racist none the
less.
To All of us white, privileged people, please take a moment
to stop talking, stop trying to fix, or run the show, and simply listen. Maybe ask “what can I do to be supportive, to
help in this situation”? That’s it
though, you have no rights here to debate, to discuss, to suggest, to
imply. You simply have the right to
listen, to empathize with as best you can, and to then do what is asked of you
to best be supportive of those who are going through this plight Right Now. You say you are not racist, then you had
better be running, as hard as you can, in the opposite direction of that
walkway, and by running, I do mean actively listening and supporting as you are
asked to by those being directly affected.
This isn’t about you, so stop talking, stop trying to lead, stop trying
to give direction, however helpful or well intentioned you might be, it is not
the sensitive, caring, and specifically supportive action that is required at
this time.
If You are a Black person, I say to You, my heart breaks for
you, for your community, for your children (regardless of their age). How can I support you best Right Now?
