It is our duty

In the light of recent events of another black person killed by white police in the US, I felt the need to write it all down. George Floyd is one of many black people killed by white police. And it seems to happen again and again. Only in the past 3 months a few of the names made it into the headlines. George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor. All three of the victims were killed in the past 3 months by white police in the US. Ahmaud Arbery, a jogger minding his own business on his daily morning run. Breonna Taylor, a woman shot in her own home by police who mistook her for a suspect who lived miles away from her. George Floyd, killed by white policeman despite his voice asking the policeman to lift his knee off his neck as he couldn’t breathe. The media goes viral. Say their names. We want justice. Now!

I’m currently reading a memoir by Margo Jefferson called “Negroland”. Jefferson is a black American writer, critic and professor, raised in upper middle class black America, in 1950s Chicago. I’m only about half way through but one paragraph really stood out. Below you can find a citation of said paragraph:

“We were Bronzeville girls until I was three and Denise six; then we moved to Park Manor. Bronzeville was the second biggest Negro city in America, and our grandmother owned two buildings there. We were living comfortably in one of them on a day in 1949 when history records that ‘the attempt by two black families to move into two houses in the South Side neighborhood of Park Manor produced a mob of 2000 whites chanting “We Want Fire, We Want Blood”, while white policemen watched in silence.’ What else would White Policemen do? They were upholding twenty-five years of law and more than hundred one years of custom. They were protecting the property of their fellow officers who owned homes in Park Manor.

One evening several years later, when we have safely settled in Park Manor, a patrol car stops Daddy on his way home.

‘What are you doing here?’

‘I live here.’

‘What’s in that black bag? Drugs?’

‘I’m a doctor.’

Which the bag’s contents reveal he is. A pediatrician, luckily, not an anesthesiologist.” (Jefferson, 2015:82)

Now, let that sink in. This is around 1950 in Chicago. Not that long ago one might say, but still quite a long time ago. We have 2020 and not much has changed. What you read in the above lines happens on a daily basis. In the UK we might not hear about the shooting of innocent black people but institutional racism and violence against black people is all time present. It is our duty as white people to question, to call out racism, to stand up and to deconstruct. We cannot look away. We have to do more. Phrases like “we live in a post racial society” or “I don’t care if you are green, yellow or black” are wrong statements and denials of the actual problem. It might sound progressive in some ears but really it is just enforcing the denial of race and racism and the structural issues that are so deeply engrained in our society. “Somebody makes a racist joke and says they don’t mean it? Call it out. Name it. A joke might not be meant harmful but is still harmful. It feeds towards a system that is violent, unequal and discriminatory. Somebody starts their sentence with “I’m not racist, but…” or “I’m not racist, because the husband of my aunt is black”, call them out. We are all racist at the core somewhere, and it is our duty to fight against it and be aware. We need to educate ourselves, broaden our horizon, listen to the people that experience racism on a daily basis. And if you unintentionally say something racist or behave in a racist way that offends a person? Listen to really understand, apologize for it, and work on yourself that you don’t do it again.

To close this post I’ve listed some books that I highly recommend below:

Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Renni Eddo-Lodge

Another Country by James Baldwin

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

You Can’t Touch My Hair by Phoebe Robinson