My son, who is more eloquent than I will ever be, posted this essay/rant on Facebook. He has allowed me to share it here. I am so proud of this kid.
The author of the following is Ian Barclay, who is 19. It gives me hope for the future.
Here's hoping you can tolerate another essay/rant about current events.
A cop shoots Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
A cop shoots a 12-year-old boy in Cleveland, Ohio.
A cop strangles Eric Garner in New York.
These are all terrible atrocities in and of themselves. The accumulation of all three recently should make it obvious that something is wrong. Why is no one being held responsible for these crimes? As with most things, the response is extremely polarized. On one side, and the side that I happen to fall on, says this is a matter of race. All three people killed were black; all three police officers were white. A rehashing of 1960s America. A common rebuttal goes something like this:
"This has nothing to do with race! They're isolated incidents that people have decided to overreact about! What about the time that a black person killed a white person? Where was the outrage? Where was the press coverage? People will use the race card for anything these days!"
or:
"He deserved to get shot! He was a thug and was acting suspicious (according to my definition of suspicious) and the cop acted right in what he did! He was under a lot of stress! You should respect the cops in all situations and trust them because they know exactly what's good for you. Let's try to forget that all the times I've hated the government because this time, it's different!"
or even:
"I'm not racist, but I tend to lump black people into two different categories, and then get mad at them when they don't follow through with my own assigned definitions of them. You're supposed to be one of the good blacks! Why are you being like the bad ones? And you, you're the hopeless, degenerate that I've labelled despite never having a conversation with! Why are you doing good things? But I'm not racist! If I were, I would kill black people in a completely different way."
Sigh.
Where do I start? The race card. People claim that the "race card" is being used more and more often recently. Let's assume this is the case. That's leaves a few options for why:
A) People are using the race card for everything because it allows them to get what they want, even if it's used illegitimately.
B) More and more racially insensitive acts are happening, causing people to attribute more crimes committed against them to race.
The things in B) have been happening for hundreds of years. Why is it so far-fetched to imagine that maybe it's still happening? "They have civil rights now! This can't possibly be a problem anymore!" Wait, wait, wait. Let's take a good long walk down the civil rights movement for blacks. Prior to 1866, the end of the Civil War, blacks had absolutely no rights. They could be bought, sold, whipped, beaten, tortured, killed. No one would bat an eye. They weren't considered people, they were property, things.
With the Civil Rights Act of 1866 in place (which was, by the way, vetoed by the president, but passed with a 2/3 majority), things improved. Sort of. The act proclaimed that all citizens were equally protected under the law, and would eventually become the 14th amendment. This, along with the 13th and 15th amendments, which abolished slavery and promoted suffrage regardless of race respectively, were known as the Reconstruction amendments, and, considering the Civil Rights Act of 1964, written in a way that allowed people to basically ignore them.
One hundred years. For one hundred years, we said blacks were equal to whites, and wrote in our Constitution, the backbone of our government that is treated as if it were some holy document today. We wrote and we said it and we promised that everything was all right. And we lied through our teeth. Separate but equal became the phrase that filled everyone's mouths. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 should not have been necessary. But for some reason, we clung, tenaciously, to the belief that we were somehow better, more evolved, the superior people, for not doing so would jeopardize our entire worldview. And heaven forbid that we were wrong.
I've been using the first person "we" this entire time, partially to get the attention of those who claim that all of this is in the past. "I didn't own slaves! I've never lynched anyone! Why am I being blamed for the actions of my ancestors?" BECAUSE IT IS STILL GOING ON. Not as explicit. Not as tolerated. But it is still happening. And we all suffer the consequences. We can’t distance ourselves from something so pervasive. I don’t care if it doesn't affect you. It affects a large portion of the people around you. Care about them.
This all comes back to the race card. History shows that putting laws in place doesn't always mean something. You still want to claim that A) is the right answer? When was the last time you used the race card? Never. You didn't have to. You've never had to face a situation where you felt you were treated unfairly because of your race. I haven’t either. So what in us has the audacity to tell people they've been using something way too much that we've never used at all?
“But what about the time that a black person killed a white person because he was white?” There is no outrage over these cases it is practically guaranteed that the killer in question is going to be punished in some way. That’s the problem. In the reverse case, nothing is happening. Again. And again. And again. Cops, who are mainly white in these cases, are committing crimes that, had anyone else been in their shoes, would have resulted in some sort of conviction.
To those who scream that those who act or dress or have even committed crimes in the past deserve to be killed, let me direct you back to our Constitution which, in just about any other circumstance, you would be pounding and screaming about obeying. Fifth Amendment. No person shall, “be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” A police officer enforces laws. They are not the law. And disrespecting a police officer doesn't mean disrespecting the law every time. The police officer can just be a terrible individual, just like there are plenty of terrible people in any profession. Sometimes the police are in the wrong. Question: Why the waning respect for police officers?
A) People don’t have enough respect for the law anymore, and would rather everything break down into complete and utter anarchy.
B) The police are doing things that are making people disrespect them more, like killing black people on the slightest of whims.
And yes, there are good cops, and there are bad cops. But if your life is at risk, you’re probably not going to assume that every cop you encounter is a good cop. And when being even near a cop seems to raise your chances of being killed, you’ll likely not want to be around them very long. But if you act nervous and try to run away from one, because, considering the recent news, who would blame you, the likelihood is that if you’re black, they’ll probably shoot you.
And lastly, saying “I’m not racist” doesn't automatically make you not racist. The thing is, as civil rights have gotten better, the ways to circumvent them have gotten more subtle and hidden. But they’re still there. Listen to a kid in class justify racial profiling for a project. I did. Listen to a slew of black jokes in your all white Boy Scout troop. I did. Listen to every single sentence that has started with “I’m not racist, but…”, because I guarantee the next thing out of their mouth will be something racist. It’s still in people’s thoughts, and from there, into their words. And from there, into their actions.
Inevitably, this will fade out of the public mind. Then, it will happen again, as it always does. And people will be outraged, again. And nothing will happen to fix it. End this cycle. It’s been a little over a week since the decision in the Michael Brown case, and we have moved onto another. Do not forget. Don’t let anyone forget, but most importantly, don’t let yourself forget. Join the rallies and the protesters. The worst thing you can do is to care and not do anything. People marched on Washington to be heard.
Let them hear you.
Let them hear you.
Let them fear you.