This blog very rarely talks about serious issues— in fact, I think this is the second time I’ve even mentioned something anywhere near this hefty. I’m sure many, if not all of you, have seen quite a bit regarding this topic and the murder of George Floyd, but I’m not going to let that stop me. My apologies, but this isn’t going under a “read more” either— because especially with everything happening right now, doing so would be unethical.
As a white American, and one who’s cishet-passing at that, there’s always been a certain amount of privileges afforded to me despite the fact that yeah, I’m poor and mentally ill. As I grow older and come to understand more of the world around me— particularly as I live in a small Midwestern town that, as a cousin of mine has put it, “has the racial diversity of mayonnaise,” this has been no more apparent than it has been now. With yet another murder, the people of the United States quite literally gather up their outrage, and for good reason. If you don’t listen to your people, your people will make you listen.
In the past, I’ve seen an entire family ran out of town for being black. I’ve heard stories from my aunts about the time a young black man, no older than 18, was nearly lynched because he dated white women— beaten to near death and left for dead on the side of the road. He was just lucky enough to be found by an Amish man and taken to a hospital. The slurs are endless and I can not count the sheer number of times I’ve heard shit, something along the lines of— “was he black or was he a [n-word]?” The respect is little and the disdain is endless. This is but a small number of examples out of many; just a few stories out of hundreds of thousands that very real people have gone through— and they aren’t mine, but they are someone’s. There are people going through similar right now, as I write this and as you read this post.
I never got to learn their names, and being white, I was given the privilege of not having to ask in the first place.
Being white means you can afford to remain silent and not have these things affect you.
Being white means you can hear the stories of victims, time and time again, brutalized by the system and the police who were supposed to be there to protect them— and not have to worry about that happening to you or your family.
Being white means it’s entirely possible that, in the end, these issues only ever reach you when a family member, friend, or coworker expresses disbelief; “Can you believe this shit? It was his fault!” And regurgitates some half-baked ‘defense’ on the offending officer’s behalf. I’ve heard it a dozen times and, chances are, you have too.
Perhaps, in some ways, worse yet still are those who try to lay claim to “neutrality” in favor of not doing or saying anything at all— the ones that watch it all go by and take up whatever side is most convenient for them in the moment. Similarly, but on the opposite end of the spectrum, I’ve seen a lot hashtags and statements from people and corporations alike that just feel... Ridiculously empty, like they’re little more than hand waves and dismissals from people trying to look good or pat themselves on the back for fulfilling some kind of flimsy social justice quota.
But, no matter how much this shit pisses me off, no matter how much or how loudly I might scream “fuck the police,” “eat the rich,” “punch a nazi,” and so on... At the end of the day, I am still white. These issues will never impact me, or those reading this who are white as well, the way they do POC.
To be white is to have a privilege granting you peace and the ability to remain ignorant. To be white is to have the privilege of distancing yourself from the hell many POC are forced to endure every single day.
This is why, even now, the protests, rallies, and riots continue.
Something has to be done. This status quo must change. No more hollow promises and meaningless peace offerings. No more letting the same shit happen over, and over, and over again.
The people are scared, and they’re perhaps angrier now than they ever were. Rightfully so. There’s perhaps another conversation to be had about COVID-19 and its impact on current events, but I’ll leave that for another time.
Even when the current protests die down, because they will eventually, we can not allow ourselves to be satisfied by anything less than total reform. Let that spark inside of you burn, folks, but don’t let it burn all the way out before the fight for change is over.
I’ve done a lot of thinking about what I wanted to do and what else to say in regards to this, and admittedly? Given my locale and current state of living, there’s not much. But with you guys, and the platform you’ve given me so far? There is something I can do. Quite a few somethings, in fact, though they aren’t physical.
With this in mind, I’m gonna be running a donation campaign through Tiltify (main site linked here, campaign isn’t up yet) for Color of Change.
In exchange for donations (no minimum required), I’ll be offering a high quality emoji/icon pack— so far, I plan on including the symbol of the raised fist, plus a custom spin on it ‘cause I know y’all like your skeletons, and quite a few solidarity and pride variations. I’ll let you all know more on this as I get more ideas and put the pack together— and don’t hesitate to send in suggestions either, if there’s anything in particular you’d like to see included in this pack.
This has been a long post, but something I wanted to get out there. I also have a few more ideas and plans beyond this upcoming campaign, but I’m not 100% sure how I’ll be orchestrating those just yet... But all the same, expect updates on that in the near future as well. Thank you, all of those that have read this far— stay safe, and together, let’s do our best to make a difference!
P.S. Fuck cops. ✌️ Don’t forget to check out this link to see what else you can do to help! https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
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