Everyone knows of the tragic deaths of George Floyd and the Black civilians before him at the hands of police officers. However, this tragedy does not impact your life at all. You live in an insular environment where nothing in the outside world has to upset your financial, social, and personal matters, and your fortunate circumstances serve you only. What’s more, you should be ashamed of yourself for living a privileged life. Now, isn’t that right?
Wrong. The social upheaval happening right now in the streets across the nation (and around the globe) is pertinent to every human being, regardless of race or social status. For that reason, it is irrational for those of us who are not directly affected to ignore the issue of racial injustice. Besides recognizing the racial issues that exist in the United States, we should also acknowledge our positions of privilege—whether racial, financial, or both—and how they have given us decisive advantages in society. No, we should not feel guilty for these advantages. Rather, we should use these advantages as a force for good by supporting people and groups seeking justice in the Black Lives Matter movement. So what exactly can we do?
Acknowledging America’s Problem with Race
If we want to take action, we must first educate ourselves on the American beast we’re fighting. This requires recognizing that America is not the post-racial society we may have always thought of it to be. Besides police brutality, other obstacles that affect the African-American community with especial injustice include economic inequality, voter suppression, mass incarceration, lack of quality education, and discrimination in public health settings. While I can’t do justice to these topics by explaining them all in this article, these are all very real problems that we should all discipline ourselves to explore—and books in Black literature are a great place to start.
That being said, whenever we have conversations and educate ourselves about social issues in America, we can’t treat race as taboo. This is simply because we can’t have productive arguments about America’s problems when we deliberately shift our focus away from race. It is best for us to open our minds to different statements and arguments, no matter how prickly they are. Although it can be uncomfortable, we must consider examining society through a racial lens and at least question our beliefs that deny the existence of racism in America: the beliefs that the only issues in America are defined by class struggles and not racial struggles, that racism is the excuse used by opportunists and people of color, and that struggling Americans’ troubles are shaped by their personal failures rather than racist factors external to themselves.
Proceed With Caution
When taking action to support the Black Lives Matter cause, there are actions that are arguably necessary to avoid, and here is where things get a little bit controversial. The paragraphs below will detail some of these actions, and you may feel free to disagree with me when you read them. After all, I have been guilty of some of them myself. If you disagree, however, all I ask is that you please consider that committing these actions will put a damper on the potential for American progress.
First, as individuals who are not directly oppressed by systemic racism, we may feel compelled to tell protesters how to protest, which is understandable in the context of action-packed riots. Many may condemn such acts as criminal atrocities. However, looking at this issue through the lens of racial oppression, we should at least understand that the Black community’s pleas for the nation to address the racial injustices that affect them often fall upon deaf ears. Yes, we may feel strongly against these acts, and yes, some of these acts may have indeed been perpetrated by opportunists. Even so, we should not be so quick to completely condemn and criticize these Black Lives Matter protests, and Daily Show host Trevor Noah tells us why:
“There is no right way to protest because … you are protesting against a thing that is stopping you. And so I think what a lot of people don’t realize is the same way you might have experienced more anger … watching [protesters] loot that Target [the store in Minneapolis that was looted], think to yourselves … how it must feel for Black Americans when they watch themselves being looted every single day. Because that’s fundamentally what’s happening in America.”
Trevor Noah, host of the Daily Show
If we had stayed silent about systemic racism and police brutality, about all the Black victims who were not caught on camera, then why does it make sense for us to vilify rioters? Sure, we shouldn’t encourage rioting and looting nor partake in such acts ourselves, but to condemn rioters and impose our own restrictions on protesters would be condescending and ignorant.
Next, retaliating against Black Lives Matter protesters with the phrase “All Lives Matter” is highly problematic. This response has been a popular counter argument that self-evidently asserts that it is not only Black lives, but also the lives of other groups such as Whites and police, that are important. While it’s true that all lives matter, promoting this response is destructive to the Black Lives Matter movement. When an activist says “Black lives matter!” and they are met in response with “No, All Lives Matter!”, the Black struggle is being invalidated because this response actively ignores the calls for racial justice. The “Black Lives Matter” slogan has an implicit “too” at the end (“Black Lives Matter too”), which suggests that society does not value Black lives in the status quo, not that Black lives matter more than the lives of any other group. Keeping this in mind, it might be easier to understand why “All Lives Matter” is a destructive response and a hindrance to racial activism. After all, “All Lives Matter” will not be a true statement until Black lives matter.
Credit: Peace House
Finally, if we choose to join protesters, we cannot be just performative allies. A performative ally is someone who claims to promote a cause only for his or her well-being, whether that means fitting in with the “trend” of activism, receiving the praise of others, or claiming glory for accomplishing a “socially just” feat. Examples of performative allyship are going out of your way to act like you’re more educated than others on the issue of race, proclaiming that you support the Black Lives Matter cause without really taking action, or posting meaningless black squares on social media to show your support in a purely aesthetic way. Instead, we must listen to Black protesters and their advocates more than we speak out about our own knowledge. When we know enough to at least understand the struggle that African-Americans in the United States endure, we must use our windpipes and our wallets.
Be a True Ally
There are other ways besides joining protesters in demonstrations to fight racial injustice. First, we must have uncomfortable conversations with our families about race and help educate those who are ignorant of racial injustices. The more people that are aware of systemic racism, the more conversations we will have on how to combat it. Second, we can contact and influence the people in charge of our government, who are capable of transforming grassroots efforts into codified legislation. Right now, lawmakers are pushing for bills that curb police misconduct, make it easier to prosecute police, and end the system of qualified immunity that protects police. At the same time, government officials are also pushing for laws that further shield police and decrease transparency to the public, and public demands for independent police oversight boards aimed at increasing accountability face the threat of being killed by New Jersey Supreme Court judges. This means that we have to use our voices and our pens to call and write to our representatives, steering our municipalities and state in the direction that is most favorable to the public.
We can also take action by financially supporting groups affected by the Black Lives Matter movement. Our money can go to political organizations like the NAACP Legal Defense Fund or Black-owned businesses. We can also pledge our support to those who have been harmed by the recent riots, such as peaceful protesters who were arrested by police and businesses that were attacked by looters. Taken together, our financial contributions have a significant impact.
Ultimately, this is how we can use our privilege to help others and progress social change.
What There Is to Gain
Black Lives Matter activism is important because, well, it’s working. In Minneapolis, the city government disbanded the police department in favor of creating a community-based law enforcement system, a decision that sides with the demands of the public. In the past seven years, rates of police killings have generally decreased, thanks to scrutiny of government officials as well as their responses to demands of past years.
Credit: Vox
If success is reached and justice is served, we will live in a much more equitable society that truly benefits all. Racial progress may be slow, but in the end, the color-accepting society that we have all imagined America to be is the reward it presents.
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