When a 20 something year old self proclaimed "proviledgrd white kid" asked in earnest what could he do when things like this happen, a fellow person of "white privilege" (I assune) said that he shouldn't do anything. In fact he suggested that his feelings of guilt were being put upon him by people who didn't deserve his care or compassion. The following is my reply to both the young man and his "friend":
I don't think anyone is "guilting" him or any other innocent person. It's refreshing to see a young man standing up and want to genuinely help, but also admit not knowing how. As someone else said, continue to be a good kind and respectful person is always the first and most obvious steps. But the second suggestion, when you see something say something applies here also.
As way of a comparison, much of why Hitler and the Nazi's were able to strip, brutalize, and kill millions of Jews in such a short time, was that they had lulled the German people into believing that the Jews were at fault for what was happening to them. Just like the men and women of color who are killed by police officers today, they are often portrayed as depraved, criminals that don't warrant due process.
The Nazi's also did these crimes out of the sight and therefore minds of the larger German community. Without personal cell phones, store camera, and in some cases body/dash cams, most of these atrocities would go unnoticed and therefore swept under the rug. It's bad enough that even when there is video they still manage to find a way to discredit what we see with our own eyes and making every MURDER justifiable. Even when they are charged they are almost always found innocent.
A police officer's "perception of the facts" are all that matter. If you are racist, biased, suspicious, or are at very least ambivalent about the welfare of a entire community how can your perception be relied upon? How can you fulfill your sworn duty to serve and protect the very people you could care less about?
If the only thing a police officer has to say is that "I thought I saw a gun" or "I was afraid for my life" to be cleared, under-charges, or acquitted, what else do they ever need to say? They already have the script!
As a CNN contributor, Mark Lamont Hill said yesterday, all over America police officers are able to respond, de-escalate, and appropriately handle thousands of calls when its white people they come in contact with, why aren't people of color afforded the same courtesy?
Why don't black people just comply with the officers orders? First of all, complying doesn't guarantee a safe outcome. Even when complying with the order to get his license, Philando Castile was shot multiple times in front of his girlfriend her 4 year old daughter. Second, what happens when complying is violating my constitutional rights? White people can say no, disagree, yell, curse, jump up and down, and act crazy with a weapon and still make it home in time for the evening news. Just ask Sandra Bland. She knew the law. She knew she didn't have to put out her cigarette. And yet somehow she ended up in jail and mysteriously found dead some few days later.
So my advice is, when you see something say something when the situation doesn't seem right. It doesn't have to be at a rally, but just within your own group of friends and family.
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| TheGrio.com |
When everyone cares about their neighbors, oppression of any kind won't be tolerated.
How many different scenarios have to happen in which a person of color ends up dead before it becomes clear that it really doesn't matter where we are, how we act, our financial, socio-economic, or social standing. We end up dead on the pavement.
Borrowing from D.L. Hughley, a white man with a gun is a Patriot a black man with a gun is a Thug!
How do I explain the young men in my family, who know the law and their constitutional rights, that these don't necessarily apply to you as a baby, child, or person of color, because of the color of your skin. To the police your already a criminal, they are just waiting to find out what it is this time that will allow them to shoot you dead!
In the land of the "free for some" it's not safe to be a person of color.
