Thanks to the video camera in everyone's pocket more white Americans now know. Black Americans, while likely relieved that finally white Americans believe them, still have to reconcile with how overdue our understanding is that: Police officers are killing black people without recourse. Genocide is happening in America. Racism is the reason.
And it is that racism we need to talk about. We need to talk about the videos. We need to talk about why we may feel we need to see more. We need to talk about why the videos go viral. And we need to make a commitment to learn, change, love ourselves and those around us and then fight for black lives without needing to watch more "proof."
It's time for us to petition our news outlets to stop the parade of black death and to give black families and victims the same respect and love that white families and victims receive.
The images of black death are horrific. On the surface they appear to be instrumental in exposing an unknown truth. The actual truth is they are instrumental in perpetuating racism.
They are normalizing the spectacle of black death. In a country obsessed with and desensitized to violence it is hard to make the argument that these videos are "hard to watch." If they were "hard to watch" they wouldn't go viral. It's hard to be black in America. It's hard to go about your day with the possibility of being shot by police at any time. It's hard to pick up the pieces after your family loses a loved one to state sanctioned violence. Watching a black man or woman being terrorized by the state is not hard for a white person. It isn't changing our mind.
In fact these videos are confirming, normalizing and perpetuating black Americans' as criminals -- scary threatening menaces to society -- the very line of thinking used to justify the killing of gentle giant, Michael Brown. And although that is not what many of us are thinking when we watch these videos, I am asking that we just think about this and sit with this uncomfortable feeling, and ask ourselves -- why are graphic videos of black death OK to watch on the news and on auto-play on Facebook? Why is white death not shown?
Because watching death can be very traumatizing for viewers. Out of respect for the white victims family we rarely see footage of their loved one's death. Imagine how these videos affect the family members of the deceased. Consider that these videos may be having a very real effect on you. Realize that instead of watching these videos we instead need to believe black Americans when they say "the police are killing us."
And that is probably the most insulting thing about these videos. They prove what black Americans have known forever. White Americans do not believe, or trust a word that comes out of their mouths. This is in large part due to white America's cognitive dissonance around slavery which continues to perpetuate the belief that black Americans are less than human. That same cognitive dissonance makes white Americans want to stop reading when slavery is mentioned because it does not fit into our collective narrative that slavery is over, America is now in a post-racial period, and that our black friend and our black president are proof that we are good. We are good. We are good.
And these videos fit very well into the narrative "I'm not a racist." We now have the opportunity to see what racists look like. We can call out the "killer cop" and we can turn to ourselves in the mirror and clearly see that we are not racist. We are witnessing a traumatic event, while at the same time subconsciously bolstering our image of ourselves. Through this process the psychological web of American racism continues to weave itself into our everyday lives.
We have to understand that police officers are not some rare subspecies of human that hates black people. They haven't arrived via time travel from the antebellum south to wreak havoc on black Americans and embarrass white Americans. They are products of modern day America and their racism is only more evident than ours because of their line of work. We have to change ourselves to protect black lives. We have to change ourselves to stop killer cops. We have to change our society to ensure that black lives matter.
So what do we do now?
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Insist that the black families and victims of police terror are given the same respect as those of white americans.
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Petition news outlets to not replay black death on repeat.
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Tell friends and family not to share these videos on auto-play, and encourage them to instead express sorrow at the loss of another life and take action.
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Allow victims to release footage as they see fit and when covering it link to their story rather than embed it.
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Believe black people without requiring proof that genocide is happening in America.
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Love ourselves and the entire human race by acknowledging our collective humanity.
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Commit to standing alongside black Americans to celebrate their lives and futures not just rallying around their death.
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Give to the ML4B Fund which supports black led organizations fighting on the front lines.