Systemic Racism in America : Complacency is not the Answer and it Never has Been
Many of us are upset (but not surprised) that during a time of what should be togetherness through a pandemic which impacts everyone, that parts of America are leaning into racist roots in an attempt to start a second civil war. While many were reflecting on how much we rely and value our neighbors, others are leveraging this time to tap into their own anger to further their ignorant views which allow them to give a face to why this is all happening; a way to push blame for their own unhappiness onto those who are vulnerable by the social restraints which have been put in place by colonizers afraid of losing power...and basically given carte blanche to do so by the current American administration.
Joe Heller, www.hellertoon.com
Though a fractured system and power imbalance is harmful to everyone, it's no secret who is directly harmed by these dangerous narratives which have led to deadly action : people of color. Specifically black people, and even more so, black men. Other POCs also experience systemic racism on a dangerous level in the US (that's right, all non-white races are discriminated in here folks!), typically through propaganda with the sole purpose of creating a scapegoat for current political shortcomings.
Mexicans and other latin American immigrants are a perfect scapegoat for a faltering economy and low employment rates. With the mantra of "they take our jobs" justifying literal children in cages (over 69,000 since Nov 2019) as imposed by harsher border crossing restrictions by the Trump administration. Or the Islamaphobia that came out after 9/11, which is still prominent today. The phrase "war on terror" was really a "war on Muslims" (a religion) or "war on people from the middle east" ('who knows what part, if they're brown and wear a headpiece, they're a part of the problem' is what the rhetoric implies) created people to blame, and a seemingly justified reason to invade Iraq. This turned out to be a big mistake for the US; after 9/11, the CIA shifted from investigating internal terrorists mostly made up of white nationalists, to Muslims. Almost 20 years later, we can see the damage that shift created in America, letting the nasty wound and virus of alt-right racism fester and manifest, like a gangrenous limb that wasn't amputated in time.
Asian populations as well have suffered the racism-in-America plight. Remember during the Pacific War when we locked up Japanese-Americans because of their ancestry alone? Even "white" immigrants have done their "racist time" in America when Irish and Italian communities were seeking refuge for a better life across the pond (during the civil war and Mussolini years respectively). Some people seem to forget that America is a country of immigrants. But what have black people done? Why out of all the reasons AmeriKKKa (I'll use this term to refer to actively racist individuals in US because I don't think all Americans or all white people are racist) finds to push blame onto other groups do black people get the brunt of the hate?
It's because black people are the everyday scapegoat. AmeriKKKa was built on the backs, blood, and lives of black slaves. AmeriKKKans want to have a feeling of superiority over black people and are indeed angry that black people aren't serving them today. And the AmeriKKKan systems don't help to squash these harmful ideas. The "war on drugs" was really created as an excuse to lock up black citizens or people AmeriKKKa thought 'undesirable'. The number of black men currently incarcerated exceeds the number of enslaved black men at the height of slavery in the US, and despite only representing about 13.5% of the US population, black men are incarcerated at about the same rate as white males. This fact isn't surprising as the 'war on drugs' isn't the only rhetoric that demonizes and dehumanizes black men. The 'bad guy' in cartoons or movies are usually black or wearing black, names of black people in the news are omitted their given name to be called a 'thug'. Everywhere you turn in the US, AmeriKKKans are given a reason to fear black people.
Why is AmeriKKKa okay with embracing ALL of black culture: from clothing style, to music, to food...except for actual black people? Oh right, that superiority complex and white fragility. AmeriKKKans' egos aren't worth the lives of the innocent, and people who aren't affected by racism need to stop being complacent and begin advocating using their privilege. BLACK LIVES MATTER. Not because all lives don't matter, but because black lives are in danger right now in the US like no one else; don't let white fragility demean the purpose of black people just wanting to not live in fear from living their life. White people in the US DON'T live in fear from running, barbecuing, playing music, etc., but black people DO. BLACK LIVES MATTER. And, okay Karen, you're color-blind; but can't you see that AmeriKKKans aren't? Can't you see that police are targeting and murdering black men specifically? BLACK LIVES MATTER. And if you have to be told or reasoned with as to why BLACK LIVES MATTER and not 'all lives matter' right now, then you should really look deep inside yourself and find your empathy towards your fellow human beings that are being hunted down like it's year-round 'black men season' and ponder why BLACK LIVES MATTER.
Imagine how angry AmeriKKKans would get if they were treated any of the ways POCs are treated on a daily basis. How quickly would they protest? Would it be a peaceful bend of the knee, would guns be involved? Of the school shootings and US-soil based terrorism, who are the culprits? The answer is they are the majority (if not all) white males; and most, if not ALL of these men came away with their lives by the police after killing many, unless they chose to take their own lives first. A black man can be murdered for jogging when a white man can murder 9 black people and be offered a free sandwich at Burger King. That's what it means to have privilege; consider for just a moment what it would look like if you didn't have it. I know I do. I currently live in Ireland, a place that doesn't have the systemic racism roots that the US does, and as a POC who has had my life in danger multiple times because of the color of my skin, I weep inside daily for my fellow Americans who are unable to escape the nightmare of living in fear just because you exist and the color of your skin.
It's difficult to watch the degradation and disintegration of the United States happen from across the pond. I feel helpless and angry as many POCs do right now, but what we need right now are not FB posts or 'thoughts and prayers', what we need is to be supported in person on a daily basis by people who have the privilege to do so. Black Americans need to have their protest efforts supported and not demeaned, and need to be supported publicly when being treated unfairly. POCs need to have the weight of our plight felt by all, and for those advocates to join in protest when (yet another) murderer walks free from killing an innocent black man. White Americans need to be enraged when POCs are dehumanized in media and by prominent politicians labeling us "thugs". And mostly POCs need every able voter in the United States to pay attention and not support white-supremacist-backed politicians who empower the alt-right. Passivity is what allowed this racism cancer to spread. What we need in the US are active privileged advocates. Help the voices of the melting pot be heard; that's how to let freedom truly ring.
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