Posted by I have been vocal with thoughts on recent events throughout our country and the world on my social media. I have attended protests and stood up to those with racist view points or oppressive words. It honestly baffles me we are STILL fighting about this. Black people are humans therefore their lives matter. Gay people are humans therefore their lives matter. And so on and so on. I don’t see why this is hard for so many to comprehend.
It is June. PRIDE month. I love Pride, not just as a time to show support for the LGBTQ+ community, but also as a celebration of simply being your true self and not worrying about judgment of others. And dressing up in obnoxiously colorful outfits and running through the streets is always a good time. Unfortunately this year Pride is very different. Partly due to COVID-19 and partly due to the reigniting of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Black, brown and LGBTQ+ individuals are fighting so fucking hard to be heard. They simply want people to embrace them as members of society. They are not less than white straight people.
The murder of George Floyd inspired protests throughout the world. He is one of thousands of black individuals to be wrongfully murdered by police. The police officer who murder him held him on the ground with his knee on George’s neck for 9 minutes, while George pleaded for his life, telling the officer, “I can’t breathe, I’m going to die, I want my mama” George was not resisting arrest. This was all caught on video. The police were called because it was suspected that a twenty dollar bill George used at a local store was counterfeit. George Floyd lost his life over TWENTY DOLLARS. We should all be outraged by this. We should all be asking for police reform and convictions of the officers involved in this gruesome crime.
And yet, there are still people out there saying it was George’s fault. There are people in this world that believe if a person’s complexion is dark it means they are an animal and deserve to be treated as a slave. Racists are horrible people. End of story. There is no way to defend racist comments or behaviors. Racists are the animals. – actually I really like animals, more than most people so let’s say racists are pieces of shit, no one likes shit.
And then there are a group I like to refer to as uncover racists. Often white skinned and of the Christian faith. They claim they are accepting of people from all walks of life but continue to respond, “All Lives Matter” whenever someone brings up BLM. All Lives Matter is an oppressive statement. “I don’t see color” is an oppressive statement. Saying these types of things only invalidates the journeys of black people. It says their experiences in this world are not important – which means you are saying they are not important. They are legitimately just begging us all to see them as equal humans. They simply want to matter in this world. They are not saying they are better than anyone else or that anyone else is unimportant. Black Lives Matter is about bringing attention to the fact for centuries black lives have been treated less than white lives. That’s not okay. It’s the year 2020, time to change this shit. It is time for us all to be decent human beings. It is time for a revolution!
But these uncover racists do not believe they are racists. They will fight you about it for hours on Facebook and continue to stand by their racist words and oppressive statements. They have chosen to reject change and self-reflection. They have decided their way of thinking is the best and you are crazy if you think otherwise because all of the people in the streets crying out for black lives to matter and for systemic racism to end are the bad guys. Undercover racists think the protester are the problem. They believe the protesters are trying to ruin our society rather than make it better or more accepting of all. They believe our society is great how it is because we don’t have slaves anymore so racism isn’t real. They are notorious for denying the existence of white privilege. They have worked hard for everything they have, nothing was handed to them therefore white privilege is a lie. Unfortunately, they have no understanding of what white privilege truly means.
White privilege is when you are driving and a cop car shows up behind you, the only thing you are nervous about is the number on your speedometer. A black person is terrified of losing their life in this situation. A black person can obey everything the police officer says and still ends up on the ground begging for their life. White privilege means the color of your skin has never been a factor in how society judges you as a person. White privilege is the inherent advantages possessed by a white person on the basis of their race in a society characterized by racial inequality and injustice. And it’s okay. Someone saying you have white privilege is not an attack on you. It’s simply a fact. And white people should be using their privilege to stand up for black and brown people and to demand equality for all so we can end this racist bullshit that goes on everyday in our society. It’s totally cool to admit you have white privilege. It’s actually a very badass and woke thing to be able to be self aware enough to acknowledge that fact. If you are able to be self aware, it gives you the power to use your white privilege for good. If you deny the fact white privilege exists, you are part of the problem. You are perpetuating a systemically racist society. To put it frankly, you are wrong.
Recently I was able to attend a Black Lives Matter protest in my quiet little home town. My town is very suburban and majority white. However, hundreds of people showed up to this protest. I was impressed and inspired. Many people, black and white, spoke about their experiences with racism in our town. There were 11 and 12 year old girls who stood up in front of hundreds of people begging for a change because they are tired of having to defend their friends in school against racist comments. This made me cry and filled me with inspiration. It gave me so much hope for our future generations. It made me proud of those young girls. Society teaches girls to be quiet and polite otherwise people wont like you. But despite the fear of being bullied themselves, they stood up for what is right. They stood up for what they believe in. And they will make a change in our society. Those small acts of resistance do matter. They add up and can change the way people treat each other. I am happy to see protest. I am happy to see people demanding change. I am hopeful change will happen. We simply need to continue to fight for it. We cannot give up because they fight will take years and it will be difficult and discouraging at times. But changing an entire society cannot happen overnight and it will never happen if we remain silent. NO JUSTICE NO PEACE. GET RID OF THE CORRUPT POLICE.
Olivia Bohrer 