Black Lives Matter
I feel uncomfortable. And you might, too. I feel uncomfortable because a man was killed unnecessarily and treated inhumanely just because of the color of his skin.
I feel uncomfortable because peaceful, meaningful protests have been hijacked by those intending to do harm to city buildings, officials, and businesses, undermining the very reason the protests are needed.
I feel uncomfortable because the reactions of my friends and family across social media and my real life have been mixed — anywhere from complacent or confused, to outraged.
The hardest thing during this time of such uncertainty in my life and the entire world, is knowing how to react. I’m always worried that what I do or say won’t be enough, or that I might offend someone by saying the wrong thing. This year has been unreal; we’ve never seen a global pandemic quite like this, and it’s hard knowing what to do.
But we have seen protests like this before; protests like the Women’s suffrage parade in DC in 1913, paving the way for women’s votes; protests like Stonewall in 1969, a catalyst for LGBTQ rights; protests like Bloody Sunday in 1965, advocating for equal treatment, regardless of race.
We can’t look back at these protests and romanticize them — these were ordinary people, standing up for beliefs of better treatment for all people. They were mocked, ridiculed, attacked, and ignored for far too long.
The whole reason MLK ended up nonviolently protesting was because his negotiations failed in the courts — it was his last resort to get basic rights. In his letter from Birmingham Jail, he wrote:
“Why direct action, why sit-ins, marches, and so forth? Isn’t negotiation a better path?” You are exactly right in your call for negotiation. Indeed, this is the purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has consistently refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.”
Well, we’re seeing a world forced to confront the issue. Peaceful racial justice protests like the NFL National Anthem kneeling were either ignored or contorted to antagonize the protestors, and these protests are a result of that.
But we’re not completely out of hope just yet. MLK also states in his letter the hardest part of the struggle for justice:
“I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action’; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom… Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
It’s that last line that strikes me the most: “Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
Even though we may not know what to do or say, we all have to try our very best to change things for the better.
Even though it might make us uncomfortable, we owe it to our oppressed communities to use our place of privilege to speak out and change things.
Being uncomfortable is okay. Take action anyway.
If you’d like to learn more about the outcome of the protests, here’s a link with the myriad of changes happening all over the world: https://www.axios.com/george-floyd-protest-race-revolution-global-viral-0a88be32-7292-464b-bb19-cd386ca03928.html
If you’re considering donating to the movement, here’s a link with all kinds of places to help pay bail for protestors across the country: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/george-floyd-protests-bail-funds-police-brutality-black-lives-matter-1008259/
