Genuinely surprised by the amount of posts and threads I see people fighting in right now. Black and brown people I just have to say one thing: you dont need white people to validate your feelings or beliefs on experiences theyve never been through or have to really pay attention to their thoughts on communities theyve never lived in. If you have throughout your existence experienced nothing but police brutality and your white friends have always had cordial interactions with police that doesnt mean one of you is lying and one of you is telling the truth. It means that one of you is experiencing things as it should be and one of you is not. For me racism does exist and has negatively impacted my life I cant ignore its presence to safeguard the feelings of others who think it died with the election of Obama in 2008. Ive been held dozens of time because Ive fit the description (whether the person is big or tall) since I was a small boy, Ive seen cops smash peoples heads in and turn a man into a vegetable. Weve had a watch commander come to our home and threaten to have my father deported after we witnessed a cop run over someone. Ive had a police officer put a gun to the back of my head and make me kneel in the gutter when I was ten years old for jaywalking. Now just because what Ive encountered in life with law enforcement has been different than someone elses experience doesnt jeopardize my integrity just means that my outlook or approach to issues related to police brutality might be different than the next man or woman. But we should never feel like we have to convince white people why we feel the way that we do. Why when a cop pulls up next to me I break out into a cold sweat even when I know I am doing nothing illegal. Why my mother and father had to teach me as a child the rules and guidelines on how to interact and engage with a police officer in order to minimize my chances of being killed. It is not our place to try to school or educate white people who in 2014 at this point are choosing to willfully ignore reality. That is a waste of time and energy that could be better spent strengthening our community. I dont mean to sound divisive but the reality of the situation is that this country is greatly separated. Ive had one white neighbor in the past almost 20 years.There are two Americas and we dont need to remind white people of this the world makes it pretty clear for the rest of us not dwelling in lala land.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 00:17:41 +0000