Dear Reader,
White people have always been comfortable with their privilege. They have always been embraced by the system because it is a system that was built with them in mind and with white people at the helm. White people, those who are overtly racist; those who are covert racists; those who are neutral; and those who educate themselves have always had an advantage and have always had privilege.
It is that privilege that has allowed many white people to navigate society without having to think about racism in any of its forms. It is that comfort in knowing that the system is on their side that has allowed White people to weaponize that privilege to subjugate Black people. That very privilege has been weaponized time and time again to detract from Black issues and systemic oppression. That very privilege has given White people the agency to discredit the lived experiences of Black people and gaslight them into questioning those experiences. White privilege has allowed White people to be oblivious to the obvious fact that the system does not work for people who are not white.
The murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis has sparked global outrage and has renewed support for the Black Lives Matter Movement. I am immensely pleased that acts of terrorism against Black people have sparked outrage and has caused people to think more critically about the world in which we find ourselves. However, I am also saddened. It pains me that Black trauma and suffering is the only way in which we can get people to show empathy for the plight of Black people. It has saddened me that issues which have always existed have only been afforded this visibility and momentum because the world has paused for a global pandemic.
Why did it take video footage of a man’s neck being knelt on for 9 minutes by a White police officer for White society to say “hold on now…”.
Before the death of George Floyd, we needed the support of policy makers, corporate citizens and supranational entities to call out injustice. Why is it that only now they have decided to lend their voices and platforms to the fight against racial inequality when they were silent before? Where was this momentum and support when Trayvon Martin was murdered? Where was this momentum for Breonna Taylor? Sandra Bland? The list is exhaustive. Honestly... where was this support even before their martyrdom? It should not take the loss of life for it to click that something is wrong. Police brutality should not exist. Black trauma should not have to be a tool for the education of White people.
I hope that beyond this moment in time people continue to educate themselves and grow aware of all that is wrong with our society. I hope that clicks that all lives don’t matter until Black Lives Matter too. I hope more and more people become uncomfortable living in our society and looking at inequality.
I hope that people also understand that Racism is not an American problem. It is more widespread and invasive than the present COVID19 pandemic. What we are seeing now is not new. Racism has had its foot on our necks for a very long time. Racism built Europe; built America; crippled entire continents; displaced populations; birthed the Caribbean. This must be acknowledged. Systemic Racism has even given birth to prejudices that plague the black community such as colourism and a host of other problems.
Until White people acknowledge Racism and their role in creating the problems that exist, we will have to keep chanting Black Lives Matter. Until they acknowledge their privilege and begin to unlearn prejudice, we will have to keep chanting Black Lives Matter.
If White institutions are truly sorry and repentant for their part in the systemic oppression of Black people, they would actively work toward racial equity. Wouldn’t it be nice if Museums displaying stolen artifacts from Black countries paid those governments to display them? Wouldn’t it be nice if those countries that forced African nations to pay for the loss of slave labour after revolutions gave that money back? Wouldn’t it be nice if the colonial governments opened their purse and paid back the nations of the global south?
Black people should not have to humanize ourselves for White people... We never stopped being human beings. Black lives mattered to me before the deaths of those who have been lost and will continue to matter to me when the world resumes from its pause.
We need to work towards an anti-racist society that actively holds people accountable and works toward truly addressing the problems that exist. We need to root out systemic oppression and racial prejudice not just in America; but in Antigua and the wider Caribbean region, in Latin America, in Europe, in Asia, in India... GLOBALLY.
Until Black Lives Matter, until Black Issues Matter, until Black Stories Matter, until Black Communities Matter and even after that; we have work to do.
Thank you to all who have been protesting, educating, donating, rioting, documenting, sharing. You are doing a great work.
Signed,
An Exhausted Black Woman