To the people of color residing in regions outside of their native countries, the people of color living within colonized nations, the people of color that belong to the United States of America. We are here today, living and toiling for a country that never belonged to us.
The United States of America was built on the backs of slaves.
On the sweaty, scarred, hunched backs of Black individuals. Individuals that were kidnapped, enslaved, raped, and tortured, to serve the needs of the white man. To serve the needs of a country that claimed itself as the "land of the free." Their subjugation was based on one factor and one factor only— the color of their skin. These individuals died and sacrificed themselves in the construction of this country. Three hundred years, several generations, millions of individuals that lost their lives to racism, greed, capitalism, and racism.
The Civil War was fought in the 1860s to liberate slaves, and the Emancipation Proclamation was consequently issued. It didn't end there. The Civil Rights movement was fought in the 1950s to protest legalized discrimination, and Jim Crow laws were abolished. It didn't end there either.
The Black Lives Matter movement is just a continuation of the ongoing struggle of being Black in this nation. This country was built on racism, on the idea that white people are superior to Black people and people of color. It didn't just magically disappear with some documents that were signed by white people. Racism and discrimination are still rampant in this nation.
I still fail to wrap my head around the idea that people of color can be against this movement.
The only reason why we are even capable of physically existing in this nation today is because of Black people. Their centuries of struggle is the reason why we have rights today.
To the POC I know that disavows the Black Lives Matter movement because of rioting, why are you a free man today? Because Black people rioted for our freedom. To the POC I know that supports Trump, do you know why you are capable of voting for him? Because Black people protested for the right to vote. To the POC I know that vehemently racist, how are you sitting in that million-dollar mansion? Because Black people fought for our right to own property. Every right that we have, we owe to Black individuals, to the Black struggle. But you are so brainwashed with racist and ignorant ideologies that you are unable to give credit to the individuals that martyred themselves. Their own people succumbed to the ideas of white men.
I may not be Black, but as an Indian-American, I am aware of and grateful for the sacrifices black individuals have made for this nation. No amount of donations or words are sufficient to equate to the centuries of pain and oppression they faced and overcame. But as a person of color, I am an ally. I see and hear you. Black people are still suffering, to the hands of systemic racism and as people of color, the very least we can do is stand by them.
