A couple of my non-black friends have posted videos of black people admonishing other black people to do better, be better, live better. I get it, I really do, but the point I believe that is being missed by trivializing the anguish felt by black people in general is this; being a law abiding citizen, who goes to work, provides for his/her family, tries to live good life does not exempt us from being followed in stores, stopped,questioned and sometimes searched for no apparent reason, or even being spoken to in a disrespectful manner. I think back to the man in Nevada who held federal officials at bay with an armed crew who is still alive, and Mike Brown who is accused of stealing cigars who is dead, or the young man who stole 2 cans of soda and had a knife against 2 armed police officers who is also dead and have to wonder what the difference in those scenarios are. I am sure that many will provide plenty of reasons why those young men were robbed of their lives and the other person wasnt. Rioting, looting and burning down our neighborhoods will not solve the issues that exist, but until those issues of inequality are acknowledged we will continue to see these tensions expressed in some of the most horrendous manners.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 16:04:09 +0000