Not one.
Not two.
Not three.
Not four.
Not five.
Not six.
Seven black churches have now been set on fire since the horrific racial terrorism of the Charleston Church Massacre less than two weeks ago.
#WhoIsBurningBlackChurches
The latest was set on fire tonight, and happens to be another AME church (just like the historical Charleston one) in the South (haven't they all been there?), was burned to the ground 20 years ago by the KKK. Ooops, did I just say that? Usually there's an "official" report from the "local authorities" stating it's still an "unsolved" incident, but not to worry; they're still working on it, and please don't anyone to jump to any premature conclusions, while the colorblind wheels of justice are still doing their job.
A CVS burning in Baltimore getting wall-to-wall coverage on CNN, while more than half a dozen churches blaze throughout the South gets hardly any coverage, seems to tell me the mainstream media wants to take their ball and go home if they don't get their desired narrative on this. They seem to be all in for the RW conspiracy that there's a racial war coming soon from the blacks. It's clear again tonight though that that premise is completely upside down. What has also been clear to me for a very long time, is that, with all things considered, black Americans have exhibited the most herculean restraint, civility and forgiveness toward white folk, despite being way past the breaking point for much of the last four centuries in the face of overwhelming brutality, humiliation and terrorism of life in America.
Here's the deal: you're entitled to your opinions, folks, about whatever the media-driven controversy of the moment is, whether it's Confederate "heritage," defending coward/bully Darren Wilson's cold-blooded murder of shooting in the back the unarmed, teenaged Michael Brown because he "feared for his life," or the rampant systemic racism that results in wildly disproportionate incarceration rates, drug arrests, redlining of housing, unemployment, lower salaries, underfunded school systems and social programs for blacks.
But you are not entitled to your own facts.
Fact is, American history is rife with a long, ugly, brutal history of identifiable and provable institutional racism/terrorism. It's not debatable.
But, but, but, don't accuse "America is #1 - fuck yeah!" of institutional racism...ya know, because Obama and Oprah and Lebron and Jay Z, and stuff. And ya know, the cops in my neighborhood are really nice guys, and sometimes even offer to jump-start our cars and help get the cat out the tree.
Let's be really clear. Racial Terrorism has been part of the DNA of America since the beginning of this country, which was literally founded and built on the backs of hundreds of thousands of slaves' sweat, blood and tears, who were raped, beaten, whipped, scorched, hung, brutalized, emasculated and driven mad by this insistent oppression. And whether you want to face it or not, your life as a white person has benefitted you in ways you are completely ignorant of, unless you really stop to think about it. Doesn't mean you have to feel guilty, just means it's time you need to be made aware of it. It might then help as a much-needed conversation starter with a black person. The small step of accepting this simple premise will help show your humanity and humility, and that goes a long way towards healing the never-ending nightmare in which black folks are forced to live in the shadows of every day, which is something you, white person, and I can not fully appreciate.
As a black person, you have to wonder every single time you close the door behind you to leave the sanctity of your home, that some stranger may hurl a racial epithet your way, and call you a "nigger" for no reason at all, simply because of the color of your skin in this world. Nevermind the rest of the day's typical journey: from having scared white people move their seat on the train, presumed by authorities to be up to no good, having to remain extra conscientious at all times lest one be perceived to be ungrateful, obnoxious or dangerous when one is simply enjoying one's self with one's friends, being followed by the store security, stopped by the police repeatedly, not asked to come to lunch, having to let the subtle slurs slide and not being able to live in the same neighborhoods. Racial stereotypes, reinforced by the media, popular culture and political propaganda (to divide and conquer us), are the foundation of it all. It's a bizarre thing, in this world in which the fact is, only one race exists. Like it or not, we are all of the same race, and do the same things, have the same bodily functions, needs and desires, etc.
Yet, witness how quick we are to fill with righteous anger, rage and indignation when ISIS or any other terrorists kill Christians or anybody who looks like us. We can't jump fast enough to come to their defense. But we can't quite conjure up similar outrage for our black people, who have had to endure chronic suffering at the hands of white supremacist terrorists for centuries. That, dear friend, is white privilege. When you can't fathom it happening to you, and therefore fails to elicit empathy in you, you just check out. Ain't in my realm of comprehension and has no relative context to my reality. That is white privilege. But it's also willful ignorance.
The vicious legacy of racism in America will only change when you, dear reader, get the facts and accept them. Acceptance is necessary. After that, become compelled to actually do something about it is required. Anything less is complicity. Not only that, but it absolutely ensures that this will never change. You can be sure there will be more racially-motivated, cold-blooded murders and home and church burnings, if we continue to stay silent and look the other way in the face of these events and these hard facts. It's time to do the real Christian thing, fair-minded religious people, and stand in solidarity with the oppressed. If you can't or won't physically stand with the oppressed there are many other ways to align yourself.
If there are legitimately white people who are wondering how to do that, and that's more than a fair place to be, then that's a conversation we should engage in. I surely don't have the answers, but I'd be happy to hear from those who are genuine (and not looking for a quarrel) about it and looking for ways to legitimately participate.
From Birmingham Jail, MLK:
"I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate,
- who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice;
- who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice;
- who constantly says: 'I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action';
- who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom;
- who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a 'more convenient season.'
Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection."