Weekly #168
This has been a brutal week.
In this space I'd normally write an innuendo-laden post about a sexy picture. But I just don't have it in me today.
I grew up in Detroit, and when I was a child, half of my friends were black. This was largely because half of the kids I went to school with were. My white friends and my black friends didn't seem "different" from each other. They were just people. Hatred isn't innate. It's a learned behavior. And no one taught it to me.
Fast forward to today. My brother-in-law is black. My nephews are black. (Well, officially they're half, but that's not going to make their lives any easier.) One of the men who works for me is black. And one of the women who works for me is married to a black man. My heart cries for what these friends and loved ones are going through. "Black Lives Matter" is more than just a hashtag in my household.
But what we've been seeing this week goes beyond racism and hatred. One of the women who works for me has respiratory issues and has been struggling because her apartment is next to a park. People staged a completely peaceful protest in that park--everyone on their knees with their hands up. And the police tear gassed them. Tear gas. Banned by the Geneva convention. It's literally a war crime to use it against your enemies. And our police regularly use it against our own citizens. The tear gas found its way into my coworker's apartment. Where was she supposed to go? We're quarantined against a pandemic that attacks the lungs...
Deep breath.
We've seen videos of police knocking down an elderly man and leaving him bleeding on the sidewalk. We've seen videos of police "keeling in solidarity" with the peaceful protesters, getting their picture taken, and then donning their gas masks and gassing the people they were just kneeling with. We've seen videos of police arresting journalists for doing nothing more than filming what is happening. We've heard chiefs of police giving press conferences where they spewed racism and homophobia so outlandish that if I wrote a fictional story and used the same words, you'd all say that my characters were unbelievable.
This week has been unbelievable.
The police's job is to help the innocent by stopping the guilty. But what we've been seeing this week is them attacking the innocent because they, themselves, are the guilty. And, as terrifying as all this is to a middle-aged white woman living in the relative safety of suburbia, there's something I need to remember--something I need to never forget. The terror I'm feeling as I watch police fire indiscriminately into crowds of peaceful protesters? That terror is what black people feel every day.
"Black Lives Matter" is a minimum bar. We need to do considerably better.
Tlaero
P.S. Thank you to Mortze for making this picture for me. I didn't ask for it, but he knew I was distraught and took it upon himself to make it.
Comments (19)
Thanks for not shying away from this. Too many don't speak up because "it's not the time", or "this isn't the place". I believe it is always the time, and the place to be true to your convictions. I look forward to the day when no one will have to say Black Lives Matter. But, until they do, we will.
Thanks, T. As a reminder to everyone reading, if you haven't reached out to your POC friends just to see how they're doing, you're not being a good friend. This is painful and disheartening enough for a middle-class white man like myself, I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it is for my black and brown friends. Why is the phrase "Black Lives Matter" instead of "All Lives Matter?" Easy: we white Americans don't live in fear of being stopped by the police (and possibly killed) simply because of the color of our skin. Until we all realize that Black Lives Matter, no lives matter. There is no justice until there is equal justice for everyone, regardless of skin color, place of origin, religion, who/how they love, etc. If you are unfamiliar with the history of racism and policing in the USA, see this clip from John Oliver's Last Week Tonight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf4cea5oObY
Year 2020 has been very difficult so far. From threat of war through natural disasters, global pandemic and economic collapse and now huge protests over systemic racism in American society. All because of murder of black man. And it was a murder, there is no other way to describe it. George Floyd was no saint but he did not deserve to die like this. What happened in Minneapolis should never happen to anyone regardless of their skin color. World has seen a blatant example of police brutality. Sadly, it was not a first such case nor it will be the last. America has, despite trying to convince itself otherwise, never fully accepted people of color as equal members of society. Despite its uplifting motto of "E pluribus unum" ("Out of many, one"), some are clearly not considered to be part of 'many'. There have been reforms, laws, even black president, yet still issues persist. But murder of George Floyd changed how people view and react to this problem. People got angry, started to demand changes, wanting more from their goverment. And what did goverment do? It went to war with its own people - we've seen protesters getting beaten, gassed, shot, rammed by cars and sadly even killed. It did not look like America, more like some banana republic in third world. America is divided, maybe more than it was since Civil War. And threat of civil war is still lingering in the air - all it takes is one wrong move. Interesting thing in all of this was reaction of rest of the world. People started voicing their support for protests all around the planet. Not only expats or POC, but people of all walks of life joined in condemnation of police brutality and calls for changes. This is something we probably never expected to see. History is being made right now. What happens today, tommorow, or next week will not mean end of racism, but it might be a first step on long road to true equality. Maybe one day we will live in society free of these problems, where all people are equal and work together towards greater good. To end this, I will quote what you might have seen on Twitter lately. Words of Herman Munster from 60's sitcom 'The Munsters', now as relevant as it was almost sixty years ago: "The lesson I want you to learn is that it doesn't matter what you look like. You could be tall or short, or fat or thin, or ugly, or handsome..like your father..or you can be black or yellow or white, it does not matter. What matters is the size of your heart, and the strength of your character."
Thank you Tlaero - Alas - Certainly a time where our hearts are heavy and we are trying to figure out how support positive change. A time for reflection, and empathy and gathering strength to be an active ally. I will speak up and use my voice for justice.
Well, this is a really weird situation from a foreigner's point of view. Here in Europe, I have never witnessed this kind of repression against a group of citizen from the government. Well, maybe against arabs at some point, out of fear, but it never was as horrifying as what the world as seen in the US lately. This is quite unnerving to be honest, because I can't really understand why people from different origin (? race ? come on ...) are singled out from the rest of the population. Maybe it would be time for the black people in america to think about leaving, and coming here. You may not receive any more help in Europe, but at least you won't be treated like that. Wish you the best in these troubled times.
My deepest sympathy for your employee and friend. And you are right, that these are deeply troubling times. We do have some who have taken this time to perform truly disturbing criminal activity, such as a former police chief here in St Louis was murdered while trying to help a friend. Yet these criminals are a small number compared to so many just wanting to protest an injustice that has become far to prevalent as police have maimed and killed citizens without justification for years. I think it really does set back the whole stance law enforcement as taken as an industry by the heavy handed approach that has been taken with many protests. Riots are a problem and a concern, but many metro police departments have not appeared to even consider how to deal with riots while protecting protesters. I do have to make the point, as some one who taught this topic in the military for years, that tear gas is not against the Geneva convention for the purpose of law enforcement. But its use is suppose to be in a very controlled approach to insure it does not become lethal levels or its dispensement a kinetic weapon. I think we have all seen examples though, where police are not even following their own guidelines on such riot control methods. https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v2_rul_rule75
Thanks for your post guys, I hope the uprising in the US leads to meaningful changes this time and it doesn't end up fizzling out like it has so many times in the past. I live in a country with a long, sad history of systemic police brutality and I can't help but sympathize with the protestors.
Well said.
Not really the place for politics.
Respect
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings with us Tlaero!
Thx Tlaero!
I agree entirely, Tlaero.
Thanks for your words, @Tlaero!
I respect you and Mortze's work (discovered very recently) and your sentiments here; and we all know there are catastrophic issues plaguing the US, the empire is running on fume. But please don't let emotion proceed rationality and heap more onto the pyre just because it's the institutional orthodoxy and feels cathartic. What terror? What terror do cops invoke in blacks? Last year only about 236 blacks died by police, and only 10 were unarmed, and of that only 2 were questionable and brought charges. Last year about 8k blacks died of violence, and blacks committed 90% of those killing. Should blacks be terrified of blacks? In 2018 blacks committed 548k violent crimes on whites while white against black is 60k, (and keep in mind, black is only 13% of the population) should whites be terrified of blacks? Studies, statistics, reality itself belies the narrative our nation is transfixed with. I can go on and on about how whites are more likely to get shot by cops than blacks, how blacks are 33% of cop killers, etc. But what we must do is caution ourselves against blind upheaval without fact. We had just nuked ourselves with the Covid scare, let’s not do more irreparable damage to our society and nation. Sensationalism is never the solution, level-headed pragmatism is.
I don't want to have an argument here, this is not the place. Please consider watching this video and understand what you called "level-headed pragmatism" is not shifting focus away from the very real reality that blacks are killed disproportionately more often than whites in America. Be well, be compassionate, be educated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8jUA7JBkF4
the shit I see in the news and on YouTube makes me so angry I want to take a fucking hammer to the POS COPs but I know that will not solve the problem so I have to calm and support the people who are actively pursuing change. TO all the people directly in the fight. I and mine support you and stand with you. This is bullshit that needs to be fixed as badly as COVID-19! Change Happens NOW!
It's been hard to watch everything this week for sure. I hope you and your loved ones stay safe... #blacklivesmatter
Amen!