Some of us see color and go blind.
Here’s an expression of White privilege for you. The
privilege to hold our beliefs about what happens to People of Color in the United
States as more valid than the experiences that they actually have. A recent New
York Times article discusses how, rather than ask why People of Color (and
thankfully some Whites) are protesting in Ferguson, many of us are presuming to
think that we know how they should respond and, to no one’s surprise, that
response should be quieter. Many
of us actually think that we are in a better position to understand the people
who are protesting than they are themselves.
“A lot of them have gotten better
than fair shakes,” said Mark Johnston, a 61-year-old white merchandiser who was
on the job on Thursday in Mehlville, in the mostly white and working-class
southern reaches of St. Louis County. While expressing sympathy for the Brown
family, he said of the events that have unfolded since the shooting — the
protests, the looting, the cries of injustice — “I think it’s a crock of stuff,
myself.”
Is this a crock, Mark? “The unemployment rate for African
Americans in the nearby county of St. Louis City was 26% in 2012, according to
the Census Department’s latest available stats on employment and race in the
area. For white Americans, the unemployment rate was just 6.2%.”[i] How fair a shake is that? Or the fact
that “While people of color make up about 30 percent of the United States’
population, they account for 60 percent of those imprisoned.”[ii]
What kind of shake is that? Fair? Middlin’?
And how should People of Color respond?
“As far as justice and peace, we
need to have it, of course,” said Arlene Rosengarten, who watched the march
from farther up the sidewalk. “But we need to make sure there’s real justice
and not jump the gun just because everybody’s angry. I think this is just
setting a bad precedent.”
Jumping the gun when it’s actually a gun is not as
objectionable as doing so when it’s public opinion. Silencing the outrage of
racism’s targets is evidently not setting a bad precedent.
The notion that the outrage is manufactured by the media is
also mentioned.
Jeff Heydt, who is white and
watched the protest in Ferguson on Tuesday, said he was initially troubled by
the shooting. But now, he said, he sees the protests as “an opportunity to
reinvolve people in the political process who were disappointed by Obama.”
Jeff: what were they disappointed about? Was it perhaps the
hope that in two terms in office our first biracial president would have a greater
impact on the system of oppression?
I am so angry at many of my White brothers and sisters. If
your friend came to you and said, “I’m broken hearted,” would you tell him he’s
over reacting? Or would you ask him what happened? If after years of being
stepped over for promotion your sister told you, “I’m being treated unfairly,”
would you not believe her? Or would you listen to her to understand? If after
years of torment your son physically lashed out at a bully, would you think to
tell him, “Now, don’t fly off the handle.” Or would you try to comfort him,
even perhaps be proud of him standing up for himself?
When are we going to start listening to our sisters and
brothers of Color?
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