You’ve heard about it all over the news, and probably plastered on some of your Facebook friend’s walls: Black Lives Matter. Due to social media, young people and opposer’s of injustice have been able to have a stronger platform to speak their minds, and bring attention where it is needed. However, this is not a new problem in America. Social injustice and police brutality is a battle people of color have been fighting for decades, but thanks to social media, this crucial movement has caught on like wild fire.
Systemic racism is described as forms of racism which are structured into political and social institutions. Now, these forms of discrimination can be deliberate or indirect, and range anywhere from wage inequality, to unjust sentences for crimes, to lack of representation. The disparity in wealth between White and Black America has a history that goes as far back as 1619, when the first African slaves were brought over (stolen from their homes) to Virginia. For centuries white Americans benefited from not having to pay enslaved people of color, but when slavery was abolished, racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan continued a war on black people, which included boycotting black businesses, bombing black churches, and overall violence towards them.
In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed, which made it illegal for employers to deny work based on race. This started a closing in the wage gap, but it hasn’t been anywhere near enough. In 2010, black Americans made up 13 percent of the population, but only held 2.7 percent of the country’s wealth. The median net worth for a White family in America was $134,000, while the net worth for a black American family was $11,000. That is an incredible difference.
It is so much deeper than wage, too. One of the biggest examples of systemic racism is seen in our criminal justice system. According to a report from 2009 by the Humans Rights Watch, African Americans are arrested for drug offenses 2 to 11 times more often than whites, and while black Americans make up about 13 percent of the population and 14 percent of monthly drug users, they make up 37 percent of the people arrested for drug offenses. The police stop people of color (including Blacks and Latinos) at a significantly higher rate than they stop white Americans. According to information provided by the NYPD, 80 percent of stops were on people of color. Out of those stops, 85 percent of people of color were frisked, an insane increase compared to the 8 percent of white Americans that are frisked.
It is important to know how we got this way, accept that we live in a flawed society with a flawed system, and constantly strive to improve it. Systemic racism has been a part of our culture for as long as we have had a multicultural America. People of color still lack representation in TV, movies, and music, as well as award shows such as the Oscars. A Black Entertainment Network shouldn’t be necessary. If there was inclusion in all aspects of our society, Black Americans wouldn’t have felt the need to reach out and create their own platform; it is one that should have been given to them. A lot of days I feel like we are still living in the 60s. Every week there is a new headline, a new hashtag, a new body in the streets. Sandra Bland. Philando Castile. Alton Sterling. Michael Brown. Alonzo Smith. David Felix. Freddie Gray. Walter Scott. Tamir Rice. Eric Garner. These are just a select few names from the over a hundred murders by police on people of color in the last year alone. In 2015, over 100 unarmed black people were killed by police, and in well over half of the cases, nobody was charged for anything in these murders. We live in a society and in a justice system that terrorizes and targets people of color, that makes the people of color in America seem worthless to society, despite the fact the CIA planted crack cocaine in low income communities to aid in their “War on Drugs.” When Black Americans finally got their freedom, there were housing regulations that forced people of color to stay segregated, despite having their so called “freedom.” Black Americans were not allowed to join the Boy Scouts, they were not aloud to participate in neighborhood sports or activities, and this is how gang activity started. What did anyone expect? They may not have been owned anymore(and honestly the fact I have to even say that puts a bitter taste in my mouth), but America did not give people of color a platform to succeed from day 1. These are human beings. These are people with aspirations and families and goals, people who just want a better life for themselves. What happened to America being the land of opportunity? I guess I didn’t see the asterisk that said it’s the land of opportunity for straight, white people. Yet people still have the right and audacity to say they did this to themselves. People still have the nerve to tell African Americans to “go back to where they came from.” We stole them from where they were from, but now that they have their freedom, they don’t matter to this country? People of color still have a harder time getting paid fairly, getting accepted into college, getting a job period, and the discoveries and inventions and amazing things they have contributed to this country are astounding.
This is why Black Lives Matter is so important. This is why if you try to belittle it by saying “All Lives Matter” or “Blue Lives Matter,” you are being ignorant and refusing to see a bigger picture. Of course, nobody is saying that back lives matter more. We are simply acknowledging that there is a clear picture of systemic racism in our country, there is a fear people of color have when they go out on the streets or they see a police officer, and that is simply not right. When I was growing up, my mom always told me if I am in trouble or if I have a problem, to find a police officer. Imagine being a mom having to tell your son not to look at officers the wrong way, not to do anything to set them off or make them feel uncomfortable, and all in all just to stay away from them in fear of losing their life. What kind of world to we live in where our own hard working American citizens are scared of leaving their houses, because every day there is another one of their brothers or sisters shot dead in the streets, by the men and women sworn to protect all of our citizens. People of color deserve the attention and focus they are getting from this movement. By no means is every single police officer corrupt or bad. I respect the fact that the men and women in blue are putting their lives on the line every single day to better this country. However, when it has been proven that police chiefs and entire departments have used racist training tactics, have used head shots of black men as target practice, and just all in all feel as though they are allowed to abuse their power and walk free after taking the life of a father, brother, sister, or friend, I am disgusted, as many others are. We cannot let this continue. We cannot continue to live in a flawed criminal justice system, and a police system backed by a significant amount of hatred and racism.
It really starts with white America. It starts with the acknowledgement of our white privilege. It starts with a mutual level of respect for people of color, it starts with love and our actions backing up the people of color that are hurting. Saying “All Lives Matter” defeats the entire purpose. We (white America) haven’t struggled like Black America has. I can’t even imagine some of the things people of color have gone through do to pure ignorance and it is our job to step up and help the people that share this land with us.
Black Lives Matter. Black lives, Latino lives, all lives of color are so important to so many different aspects of culture and as Desmond Tutu said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” Sharing a Facebook post is not enough. We must stand up. We must stand against this. Most importantly, we must stand together.
