Since these sorts of arguments keep popping up all over my feed I wanted to share my modified response from one particularly fun Facebook thread. Considering it started as a social media post, it’s sort of hastily written (I was supposed to be learning about expectation damages or something at the time). I’ve tried to clean it up a little and add a few things to make it work for this post but really I’m less concerned with grammar and structure and just wanted to get this out there. I haven’t posted in a while so I figured I’d share it here.
There seems to be a strong desire to find every way to avoid having the conversations that we need to have. In an attempt at forcing harmony we often find this need to isolate some imagined wrong that both “sides” have committed. As though the sides are on any sort of level playing field from which we could measure harm in a balanced fashion. While engaged in the mental gymnastics required to ignore blatant injustice even after it’s made itself abundantly clear, lots of people from all sides tend to try and point out the “wrongs” committed by one group or race against another – again as though these entities are dealing with each other with any sort of equity. If I can I would like to shift the focus just a tad.
It’s not about problems coming from one group or race. It’s not about the media dividing us. We’re already divided. The more and more I see this, “Both sides need to do this” argument the less tolerable it becomes. I get it. It’s well intentioned. But please don’t shift focus from the discussion that we need to be having. If anything the media is now forced to address these issues because with the advent of technology and social media, we’re already addressing them ourselves
Let’s be clear. This was always happening. The only difference is they can’t ignore it now.
It would be great if we could focus on institutionalized power structures and government entities whose agents are supposed to be acting on behalf of the citizenry. It’s paramount to recognize that this citizenry happens to have four hundred years of bloody, brutal, and horrific racial animus attached to it. It’s not that all cops are racist (though likely several are), rather, it’s about a powerful institution (the police) that often acts with little oversight or legal remedy. When this institution messes up, the ramifications are widespread and further exacerbated by the racial history of this country. Agents of the state should be subject to intense scrutiny considering the amount of power we have given them, that is, to take life seemingly at will.
“I know there are problems with black people getting shot by cops, but I really have a hard time believing that all of it is caused by malice.”
It doesn’t matter if it’s caused by malice. It’s unacceptable. Black people were being lynched in public squares for centuries long before malice in policing was a factor worth considering.
“If we see a cop wrongfully shoot anybody, let’s prosecute them for murder.”
We’ve tried prosecuting police. They walk. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Betty Shelby walks. We see police walk time and time again in the face of mountains of evidence. The legal system is not developed to hold police officers accountable because there is an inherent conflict of interest within the criminal justice system. We’re asking District Attorneys who work with police on a daily basis to then turn around and prosecute those same police. We’re asking police chiefs to hold their officers accountable when their unions have literally gutted any form of meaningful disciplinary action in their collective bargaining agreements. I have zero reason to have any faith in our legal remedies because those legal remedies do not exist or are severely hobbled. It is next to impossible to hold officers accountable for their actions – and that’s why people get angry.
That’s why people riot.
A riot is the language of the unheard. That’s from a guy white folk like to throw in our faces when we riot, by the way. To what extent are people supposed to lie down and take it before they finally lose all faith in their society to protect them and treat them equally before the law?
This thing folks keep doing by trying to equate the experiences of a grossly marginalized and historically oppressed group of people to a public profession that brings with it the risk of danger simply doesn’t add up. This isn’t a “both sides” thing. The heavier burden should absolutely be placed on the power structure that is abusing its position in society. Not on the oppressed citizenry that represents approximately 13% of the population and has been quite literally held down for centuries.
Don’t talk about the riots without talking about why the riots are happening. Don’t shift the focus from police brutality to black on black crime. Don’t co-opt a movement with your own faux hashtag that serves as nothing more than a tool to shut down black folk. It appears that there is no correct way for the oppressed and or the marginalized to express themselves without fear of public condemnation and dismissal.
That’s why people riot.
So next time you criticize black folks for not simply “doing what they were told” after they’ve been shot, imagine living in a society where you wonder if you’re going to make it home every single day.
Or maybe ask yourself if you’ve ever wondered if your name will be the next hash tag.