Okay I'm going to start this post off by saying that I am not an expert in all matters that are social and political but I do believe that with all the social media platforms we have available to us there is no reason not to voice how we feel about the issues that are affecting us so greatly at this moment in time.
Racism and prejudice against African-Americans and black people in general has existed for centuries, there's no secret about it, it's not the elephant in the room, it's simply become more stigmatized to be openly prejudiced against people of colour or a different ethnicity than your own. I'm not going to say great changes haven't been made because of course they have, black people are no longer "owned" and we are no longer segregated from white people in schools, on public transport or in stores. But that by no means suggests racism isn't around, it's alive and well everywhere and considering the fact we are in 2016 don't you think that there would be more social outcry, more penalisation for the obvious attacks on the black men and women who have been killed by the US police in the past few years?
So would I. And yet, none.
I don't believe anyone can really end racism as hard as we try it racism is institutionalized, it's built into the legal, judicial system in every country NOT just the US and people need to open their eyes to it. We can't control what people do and say in their own homes but when you're coming out into the public, saying these black men and women deserve to die for insignificant reasons such as looking threatening, having a prior criminal record, selling CDs, going to the store...
Honestly I could go on because the topic fills me with confusion and anger at how insane it is. Over 550 people murdered this year by the police in America. By the state. This definitely more significance than civilian on civilian violence as we aren't paid to serve. We aren't relied on by everyone to protect us and keep us safe from harm. We aren't the ones turning on those who are meant to put all their faith in us. How are we meant to trust and respect those who do this to our mothers, brothers, fathers, our kin? You wonder why people are so hostile screaming "Fuck the feds" at the top of their lungs, calling police pigs, not everyone hates simply to hate, first hand they've been hurt or have seen people hurt at the hands of these people. It's only understandable to develop a hate to those who take away your family members for no apparent reason.
Search "shooting of black man in America" and see how much comes up, thousands of pages not just Wikipedia, telling the stories of men who were shot and killed by the police, no convictions for ANY of these cases. That means all these families haven't had justice and are expected to carry on with their lives content as if everything is fine, their son is no longer in their family pictures, their father or husband no longer sits on his chair in the living room, but they are expected to act like it's fine.
I know there are some people who like to believe if black people weren't so "violent" and didn't portray ourselves as "problems to society" we wouldn't go through the issues we go through. But have these people considered the fact that we have been subliminally been put in these positions? Ghettos exist people and we didn't do it to ourselves.
After years of being enslaved, degraded of course people are going to be angry, it's only natural to want to be heard. If you actually pay attention, there hasn't been mass attacks on white people, no one's going after you. People simply want to be heard. We don't want our issues brushed under the carpet. When you try for so long to protest peacefully, there will be people who are tired of seeing the same things happen constantly and want affirmative action taken, even if it means taking things into their own hands.
Something I want to address is "ALM vs BLM" supporters of the BlackLivesMatter movement have never once suggested their lives hold more significance than those of any other race but the issue is if all our lives really matter why is it that black lives seem to be held in less regard than those of our white counterparts? Why is it that the shootings of our children doesn't get as much media coverage as the abduction of yours? Do you know how many missing black children get no media coverage at all? It's shocking. Why are our pictures when things are brought to the media's attention mug shots, pictures of the men drinking or smoking and yours are senior pictures? Family portraits? Do you see the double standards? I hope you do.
Right now we are addressing the lack of respect for BLACK people in society, so please. Do not come to me with that All Lives Matter stuff, because there's a time and a place, and this is not it.
In the past few days alone we've lost two men, with children, with partners in such inhumane ways, there has been VIDEO proof of both of these and we could see the brutality but people are still making excuses for the police and why they did what they did. Alton Sterling and Philando Castille, did not deserve to die, especially not how they did. No one can change my opinion on that. I saw no threat to the police in either of those videos but I did see cowardice and the belief that their uniforms would protect them from their evil actions, which sadly it most likely will.
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| Does this look like a man who really deserved the death that we've seen all over Twitter and Facebook? |
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| This man served food to school children, he had their allergies memorised? Did he deserve to be shot in front of his daughter and girlfriend? |
People are trying to get the message out there don't get me wrong, there are many celebrities, social media influencers that are showing their outrage.
Grey's Anatomy star Jessie Williams speech after accepting his BET award:
BLM wesbite:
This isn't an issue that will disappear, but people do forget...outrage is real for a few days, a few weeks on social media, then the next new story comes out and it's forgotten about. This definietly isn't right, everyone has a voice and enough people are outraged enough so why not make that known? Of course retweeting, sharing and favouriting helps, but use your platform. No matter how small or how large it is, if you have a following or it's just your friends.
Let everyone know how you feel.
Ren.
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