From my friend Anthony R. Grant following the Eric Garner grand jury. A poignant read: #rant At one point I counted 7 police officers at that scene. The man was outnumbered. Youre telling me that all of those cops could not subdue and slap cuffs on that man without killing him. You are also telling me that the officer who inflicted the fatal chokehold will walk free. Damn. I consider myself lucky. My family is not from the U.S. When I was growing up I did not have to feel ashamed or nervous about who I am. We did not carry the weight of several generations of slavery in my family (although Im sure it was present). I was aware that I was a black child growing up in the Bronx. I got picked on a little but I never took that stuff seriously. I just thought stupid kids did/said stupid things and just moved on. I carried that attitude with me until I moved to the south. I thought racism was a mindset that existed for a long time but was pretty much dead in the 90s. I mean cmon we had VCRs, video games, CDs, weve evolved! Then someone shouted F*** YOU N**** from a dirty pick up truck as they sped past me and my Pakistani friend as we walked along side a road. The first of many eye-opening experiences, most of which were unpleasant. I was 15. Im 38 now. Married to a wonderful woman and we have a daughter. I am deeply saddened that I will have to explain to her that she can be as smart and talented as she wants to be, that she can do anything—BUT she will also have to watch her back. She will have to pay attention to how people treat her. Listen carefully to what people say AND weight all of that against their actions to constantly calculate whether or not someone has ill intentions and constantly consider what place someone has in her life. I will also have to explain that there are STILL people in this world who will have an irrational fear of her because of the color of your skin. I will have to explain to her that police are here to protect and serve BUT there are also some who will use the fear they have pent up inside their souls and do harm to her or her friends in the heat of a moment. I will have to teach her that even though she is of mixed race, she is still dark enough to be considered black and therefore dangerous in the eyes of someone who lets fear guide their every step in life. Damn. After all these years we are still playing right into the hands of the very evil that does not want us all to stand strong and stand together, instead just do some Christmas shopping. Were still fighting wars. Worried about what women do to their bodies. Who can love whom. What side of the border youre from. What is the color of your skin. If we put all that and any other bullshit that really is not vital to being a human on this planet aside, think of what could we really be doing. Fear is making people do serious harm in a variety of ways to people of all colors. Hanging, lynching, dragging, hazing, tazing—I mean shooting, shooting, drowning, stoning, kicking, punching and choking—just to name a few. Fear is more diverse than those who use it. This is the world our children inherit. That hurts. Damn. #alllifemattersv
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 15:31:17 +0000
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