Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. And now, George Floyd. These promising young Americans had their whole lives ahead of them until two white male vigilantes, a rage-filled law enforcement officer, and a no-knock warrant cost them everything. These Americans, who were just like me, were killed simply because they happen to be black in the United States of America.
I know that some will attempt to view the lives and deaths of Arbery, Taylor and Floyd in a vacuum. These individuals will also attempt to flip the stories and make you believe that these three Americans’ deaths were standalone incidents that don’t describe the general American experience for people of color. They will also try to urge you to hold judgment until we get all the facts, while bringing up facts about the victims’ past mistakes as if those indiscretions should somehow excuse their deaths.
The truth is that the apologists are wrong. We as a nation must come to the realization that prejudice is alive and well. These young people are just three more victims of the deadly epidemic known as racism.
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There isn’t a black person I know who wants to debate race and racism all day. Truth be told, just like every other American, black people – myself included – want to live in peace. We want to sleep in our beds without fear. We want to send our kids to school without worrying about an overzealous school resource officer. We want to live in our communities without trauma, judgment, scrutiny or being deemed a threat.
For more than 400 years – even before America was an independent nation – this land has been stained by the impacts of racism. While we have made a lot of progress, the stain hasn’t been washed away. It has actually become more pronounced.
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When a police officer is allowed his freedom after suffocating a fellow American to death while atop his neck with his knee – as happened to George Floyd – we have a problem.
When two men can shoot and kill a black man jogging in his neighborhood – as happened to Ahmaud Arbery – and not be arrested on the spot, we have a problem.
When a law enforcement officer can fatally shoot an EMT in her head while she’s at home resting between shifts – as happened to Breonna Taylor – we have a problem.
America’s racism problem won’t be solved in the halls of Congress or in state capitols. Though there’s a great deal of legislative work that we can do, our problems must be resolved around kitchen tables and in living rooms.
We as a nation must come to the realization that prejudice is alive and well.
For far too long, African-Americans have led the fight for racial justice and equity. The news over the last three months makes it clear that white racial animus can only end when white Americans make the choice to be anti-racist.
Anti-racists acknowledge their privilege, work to challenge internalized racism and most importantly, interrupt racism when they witness it.
Now let’s be clear, acknowledging privilege in America has nothing to do with economic, political or social status. It has everything to do with how one is seen by society.
The best way to understand it is by asking yourself this simple question: would the three black people discussed above still be alive today if they were white? The likely answer is that yes, they probably would.
That’s because the idea of a white officer placing his knee on a white man’s neck sounds almost improbable. It is!
About 1 in 1,000 black men and boys in this country can expect to die at the hands of law enforcement, according to a recent analysis of officer-related deaths by the National Academy of Sciences. That makes this group 2.5 times more likely than their white counterparts to not survive an encounter with a cop.
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For decades, black America has been raising its voice and demanding change in this country. We have urged our elected leaders of both parties to work with us to end the health, economic, education and societal disparities that have plagued this country. We have pushed for greater police accountability and transparency. We have also asked, simply, to be treated justly in classrooms, courtrooms and boardrooms.
This time around, we are tired and we can no longer do it by ourselves. We didn’t create racism, and we can’t be tasked to dismantle it by ourselves.
George Floyd should be with his children right now. Ahmaud Arbery should have just returned from a jog. Breonna Taylor should be getting ready for work. Sadly, they have all been killed by racism – a solvable epidemic that’s spreading.
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To flatten racism’s deadly and dangerous curve, we must see others as mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters – all members of one race: the human race.
My message to non-black Americans is simple: If you can see us as humans, you should be willing to add your voice to the choir of justified protesters around the country demanding justice, fairness, and – most importantly – liberty for other Americans. You should be willing to do so just as you would do for your son, daughter, mother or father