by Kristin Scheimer
At first I wasn’t sure about writing this article. Not because I was afraid of the reaction I’d
get or because I didn’t feel it was my place to speak out. I’m never afraid of the reaction my words
inspire. My words are my words and I say
what I say because I believe it to be true.
And I firmly believe it is my place to speak out on this issue.
I was reluctant because there are elements to what I am
about to say of which I can only speculate.
However, being a pretty adept student of human psychology, having a
degree in U.S. History and being quite observant, I’ve decided to go ahead and
say what I have to say.
The recent shootings of two unarmed black men by white
police officers in the first week of July 2016 (I have to clarify as this could
be referring to so many dates) has sparked outrage.
 |
| Alton Sterling |
 |
| Philando Castle |
What I noticed, in perusing social media is that everyone seems
to be outraged. Of course my black
friends are outraged as they have been at every one of these shootings. And many of my non-black friends have been as
well, but for everyone the outrage has escalated. It has reached a point of such absurdity that
one’s mind almost can’t comprehend what’s happening.
I’ve thought about this, and I know, with absolute certainty
that if I was stopped by the police… if I pulled out a gun and pointed it at
the police… I would not be shot by the police.
Because I look like this:
But I have a number of people who are very dear to me, who could easily
be (and have been) stopped by the police for no reason. And it terrifies me to no end that they could
easily, easily – with almost no thought – be shot dead.
I can’t wrap my mind around this and I want to do something,
anything, to make it stop! Like many of
my friends, I turned to social media. We
post things, we express our feelings, but we all feel helpless because we don’t
know what we can do.
Like many people, I posted this picture, not because it was
the trendy thing to do, but because I believe it and I know it to be true.
What surprised me was that someone, a vague acquaintance – a
non-black vague acquaintance – commented that 93% of black people that are
murdered are murdered by other black people and therefore being killed by white
cops is the least of their problems. He
was also wondering why black people don’t seem to be hearing Black Lives
Matter.
And that’s when I first thought of writing this blog. Because what this person failed to see is
that everything that was brought up:
Unarmed black men being shot by white cops, black men and women
murdering other black men and women, the need for Black Lives Matter and black
people seemingly not hearing the phrase Black Lives Matter all come back to the
same simple problem:
WE
DON’T
THINK
BLACK
LIVES
MATTER
Period. That’s the
truth. That’s the world we live in. All of us live in that world. All of us can do better when it comes to this
belief.
But let’s look a little more at the issues this young man
brought up. Without doing research, I think I can safely
say that a number of the black on black murders he’s referring to are gang
related.
But the reality is, we – and by we I mean White America –
created the situation that gave rise to gangs.
Again, I don’t have the facts or statistics to support this. I have stories I’ve heard from friends, logic
and a small amount of research, but I feel confident in this statement.
This goes way back before the creation of the United
States. The idea of lighter skin being
superior to darker skin has a long, rich history. Again, if you really stop to think about it…
this is one of the most absurd thoughts anyone has ever had. The melanin content of your skin determines
your worth?
But we (and other societies) have developed this to a level
that’s beyond absurd. From believing we had the
right to take people from their land, sell them and ship them like cargo tells
us what White America believed about the value of a black life.
Our constitution Article 1, Section 2 states that:
“Representatives
and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be
included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall
be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those
bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three
fifths of all other Persons.
The fact
that we thought it was acceptable to count African Americans as 3/5 of a person
also tells us that we believed black lives to be of less value than white
lives.
This isn’t
a new concept. This is a part of our
heritage and has been since our country was formed. The slaves were freed, then Jim Crow came
around. If you don’t know what Jim Crow
is, our educational system is poorly lacking, but fortunately there’s google. I suggest you look it up.
Progress
has been made, but not enough. We freed
the slaves but marginalized the African American Community so much that for
many young black men and women today gangs are the only place they feel safe,
the only place they feel they belong, the only place they feel they
MATTER.
So to
think that 93% of black murders which are happening at the hands of other black
men and women is a black problem is shirking the responsibility of what we have
created.
As to the
question of why African Americans don’t seem to be hearing Black Lives Matter, well
it’s because they are told every second of every day from the moment they’re
born in everything they see and hear that they DON’T matter. It’s extremely difficult to fight the
psychological ramifications of this. But
yes, everyone, EVERYONE needs to change their belief. Everyone needs to get to a place where they
truly believe that black lives matter and they need to act on that belief, but
it needs to start with the group that created the problem in the first
place: White America.
So, what can we do? Of
course if I had the easy answer I’d be something of a miracle worker, but the
changes will need to be many, they will need to be systemic and they will need
to be progressive. This isn’t a change
that’s going to happen over night, but it comes down to this: The reason the phrase Black Lives Matter
emerged and the reason it’s stuck is because at the heart of all the problems
is this belief. We need to change this
belief. That’s not an easy thing to do,
but the first step is awareness.
SELF-AWARENESS - Everyone (except actual racists) wants to
believe that they already believe Black Lives are as important as White. Go through your day. Really be aware, and think about how you
interact, what you see, what’s in social media, TV, Movies, everywhere… and see
how often you see evidence that you, and everyone around you, don’t really
believe that.
Jane Elliot has dedicated her life to helping people become
aware of racism, as you can see in this video.
It’s long, but so impactful, I implore you to watch the whole thing.
MAKE OTHERS AWARE.
Posting on social media is a good start.
I have spoken many times in many of my blog articles about the need for
TV and Filmmakers to be aware of how they portray women, homosexuals and people
of color. And if you’re not a TV or Filmmaker, but you
see something in a TV show, Film, Commercial or Magazine that adds to this idea
that Black lives aren’t as important as White lives, say something. Write an email, call the network or the
magazine. Make others aware.
There are bigger systemic changes that need to happen within
the police force and the government. And
what can we do about this? Again: Write a letter, sign a petition, go to a
rally/protest, call your Representatives, make your voice heard.
Trevor Noah on The Daily Show talks about changes that were
made in the Las Vegas police force.
Demand these changes in your neighborhood.
There are going to be people that hate. There are going to be racists, but we can
fight it. We have to fight it, and the
way we do this is to really, really believe – all of us: Black and Non-Black – that in fact:
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