I am shocked by what happened, sickened by the fact that he lay on the street for HOURS. By a video I watched, open-mouthed, of the attack on Kajieme Powell that ended his life with nine - 9! - bullets because he had taken two energy drinks which he left on the street. Or what about Victor White who committed suicide, while handcuffed behind his back, in a patrol car? At least according to the Iberia Parish, LA Police Department - even though he was not armed and the shot that killed him was INTO his chest and OUT his back. There are dozen, scores, hundreds more similar stories. Young, Black men (some women but mostly men) are unarmed and being killed BY OUR POLICE OFFICERS.
And I read an article today by Pew Research Center for the People and the Press discussing the reaction to the shooting death of Michael Brown. And in that article one of the statistics shared is that only 37% of White Americans feel that this event "raises important issues about race."
Thirty seven percent, approximately one third of White Americans. How can this possibly be true? How can the other 63% of Whites, 60 % if we are rounding, feel that race isn't an issue that needs addressing? Immediately? How can so many people I see every day, my coworkers and commuters and citizens that need my assistance multiple times a day, not feel we are at a crisis point? How can so many feel that a Black life is disposable?
So that is what I am pondering today. And what is angering and saddening me today. I hope that everyone I know falls into that 37%, that no one to whom I am related or call a friend believes that these losses are ok. And I hope against hope that Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin and Victor White and Kajieme Powell rest in peace. And that their parents, their mothers, are able to move forward and make sure their sons lives mean something.
Excellent! Good questions to ask.
ReplyDeleteThank you... I wish more people were asking them and that the answers were more readily available.
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing Kate. Our sons' lives are no less valuable than young white males of course. .. but it is a sad day when even a gesture of kindness on the part of our sons can be misconstrued as potentially violent. Thank you for raising these questions.
ReplyDeleteLove this! You'd be surprised at the number of white people that don't believe racism exists. The thing is to acknowledge it and wonder how our community can address it. I don't believe in blaming everything on a race issue, but I would be lying if I said the color of my skin isn't an issue for some. Thanks for asking the question.
ReplyDeleteThank you Tikeetha. I believe that in talking about the issues we will be able to move forward, but so few people are willing to talk. It isn't enough for a White person to say "I'm not racist," "I have Black friends."
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