I have always had trouble understanding why racism still exists today. I think the real problem is I have never understood fully the historical beginnings of racism.
I watched a 60 minutes segment this past weekend and ended it believing everyone should watch it. I never really thought about the history I learned in school so many years ago, but I do not recall this important period of history being in our lesson plan. If it was taught then it was glossed over because the images of these lynchings would have been seared into my memory had I seen them as a child. They are after having watched it last night and having seen the images of a mother and child being lynched. It was as emotional as the Holocaust photos and in reality, it was similar. It needs to be taught in school. I have heard people say it is history and we need to move on. We can't move on if we haven't learned from it. The same as the Holocaust. We haven't healed as a nation and that's why this ignorance still breathes in our country.
Let's start with this fact. Did you know 1 IN 3 BLACK MALES will be incarcerated in their lifetime? Compare that with 1 in 17 WHITE MALES. So the lynchings may have stopped but unjust incarceration rates continue to skyrocket which continue to hold the black community down. There's no freedom in this.
Excerpt from Huffington Post, "1 In 3 Black Males Will Go To Prison In Their Lifetime, Report Warns"
The problem begins with police activity. According to Justice Department data cited in the report, police arrested black youth for drug crimes at more than twice the rate of white youth between 1980 and 2010, nationwide. Yet a 2012 study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that white high-school students were slightly more likely to have abused illegal drugs within the past month than black students of the same age.
Blacks are also far more likely than whites to be stopped by the police while driving. The Sentencing Project report largely attributes the racial disparities in both traffic and drug arrests to “implicit racial bias” on the part of the police.
“Since the nature of law enforcement frequently requires police officers to make snap judgments about the danger posed by suspects and the criminal nature of their activity, subconscious racial associations influence the way officers perform their jobs,” the report contends. Read more: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/04/racial-disparities-criminal-justice_n_4045144.html
Syracuse NY has an equal problem with the national levels of racial disparity. Follow Herve Yves Comeau, as he continues to try with all his soul to get this message heard. He's an activist with Black Lives Matter Syracuse New York. Most recently he had to stand alongside a mother who witnessed via video her son who has special needs being brutalized by a local police officer and even with video evidence the police officer faced no punishment and the child was vilified. I know from past conversations with people that it always goes like this -
"Well, when she was pulled over she shouldn't have sassed the police officer." (Subject Sandra Bland's unjust death following a traffic stop)
"Really? Have you ever yourself or someone you knew talked back to a police officer when you were pulled over for a traffic ticket?"
"Of course not. I would never . . . !"
Here’s the thing though. I've never heard of white people being killed at a traffic stop for "sassing" a police officer. I've never heard of white people being gunned down in their grandmother's backyard while holding a cell phone. I've never heard of white people being choked to death for ALLEGEDLY selling a "loosie" cigarette. 2 SETS OF STANDARDS. 1 for white people and 1 for black/brown people.
Read Herve's latest post - https://www.facebook.com/blmsyr315/posts/604289483249777
Here's another interesting and admirable person named Jane Elliott. She is still fighting as an activist and is in disbelief that she still has to talk about this problem/scar we have on our nation. A long time ago she did an experiment with children called the "Blue Eyes Brown Eyes" experiment. It really touched on the roots of racism and what can be done about it. In my opinion, until it happens to us (with some people, at least) it doesn't matter. Jane puts you, as much as she can, in the shoes of being a minority in this country/world. Here's the video: https://vimeo.com/153858146
What can you do as a single individual? A few things.
Start by not saying, "ALL lives matter." "Blue lives matter." . . . We know Blue Lives Matter. We cannot say ALL Lives Matter when BLACK Lives do not matter and that's the message we are sending. We are trying to knock down this movement by adding our own play on words. It is not a play on words to the black community. It is their LIFE they are fighting for.
I plan on participating in the local Black Lives Matter rallies. We need to stop simply quoting Martin Luther King on his birthday and the anniversary of his brutal death. We need to live a life which honors the man and what he was trying to accomplish.
Side with those who experience racism. Become allies and seek out ways to help and be of service.
Do not allow racist jokes in your presence. If you see something, say something.
On a national level, vote for people of color and for people who wish to end racism and have the past to prove their advocacy.
Let’s change this country and finally, mean it when we say ALL people shall be equal. To do that we need to face history head on and learn from it. We need better training for our police officers. We need deeper history lessons in school. We need more heroes in the movies depicting black men and women. We need CHANGE period.
