Things to Consider

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This will be the section I put injustices that do not necessarily fit into specific cases or policies. 


WHITE WOMEN

As a white woman, it is very necessary for me to confront what being a white woman means. From the Scottsboro Boys to the Central Park Five, white women have caused Black men to be seen as “criminals” in this country, even when they are completely innocent. It is important for me to realize this and stand against this, pointing it out when it happens and denouncing it.

 

Video: https://www.instagram.com/p/CAqW_NaBXqY/

 

 

THE N-WORD

Recently, a person from the “Bachelor” world used the n-word in a song on an Instagram live and made a pretty half-hearted apology about it. The only black Bachelorette to date, Rachel Lindsay, spoke about it on Nick Viall’s podcast this week, and it is worth listening to the first 35 minutes or so of this episode, found here (even if you don’t watch the Bachelor, this is important information that really has nothing to do with the Bachelor franchise):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iryUGiAJ1k



RIOTS IN MINNEAPOLIS FOLLOWING GEORGE FLOYD'S DEATH

In Response

I do not think as a non-Black person that I have any right to say whether or not Black people in America should be rioting. (Of course, it is dangerous, and I hope they all remain safe.) I can only imagine what it would be like to consistently be afraid that my life and the lives of my family are in danger, to raise children in a world where so many are in danger, and to worry that they might not make it home. And I think if one is more concerned about people stealing from a Target than they are the fact that George Floyd was murdered in broad daylight, on camera, by an officer, well, that's very telling. Destruction of human lives should matter much more than property. While I do not think I personally would be rioting if I were Black, I am not going to condemn people who have for centuries been broken down by white Americans systemically and otherwise. 

(Now the white people who were also rioting? I'm not sure how I feel about that. Protesting, speaking out - absolutely. We need to do so. But I do not think white people should have been a part of the rioting. However, I wasn't there and I know things like riots aren't necessarily the most well-covered events by the media, so I don't know every detail. I've seen the rioting at the Target started because they refused to sell milk to those who had been tear gassed, but not from a credible source yet.) 

Here's what I am turning to today: a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "A riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear?"

America has failed to hear that Black lives indeed matter.


I recommend listening to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech, The Other America:


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