The other night, when I was walking alone to my car in downtown New Orleans, I refused to look at my phone. I consistently checked behind my back to make sure I wasn't being followed. I walked quickly, and stayed completely aware. I saw a group of black men in front of me on the sidewalk, so I crossed the street. I crossed the street because they were black. I was racist if it meant guaranteeing no possibility of harm.
I honestly believe that there is a young black man my age, walking alone in the street, scared of looking suspicious. Scared of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Scared of getting into a situation with law enforcement for no reason. He views every white cop as a potential enemy who could shoot him down at any second. He decides to be racist if it means guaranteeing no possibility of harm.
I grew up in a town that is predominately white. My friends were white. My neighbors were white.
He probably grew up in a predominately black community. His friends were probably black. His neighbors were probably black.
It's in our nature to be scared of what we don't know or understand.
When you don't experience something firsthand, you take your cues from other sources. Maybe you learn from the extremely biased mainstream media, or maybe you learn from parents who didn't experience it firsthand either. You begin to stereotype.
Whenever I hear that a white cop shot black men, or when I hear that a black man shot white cops, I remember just how racist we all really are.
In the cover photo of this article, there is a picture of a young black kid hugging a white police officer. The photo was taken in a town outside of St. Louis, Missouri called Ferguson. Even when surrounded by evil, love prevailed. Racism hurts all of us. Whether white on black, or black on white, racism saddens and angers everyone.
That picture reminds me of the interracial relationships that millions of Americans share with one another. The friends. The family. The significant others. While we have areas to improve, especially within our own lives, the majority stands together with empathetic arms wide open. You won't see this majority on Fox news. You won't see this majority on MSNBC.
There is racism in America. There will always be racism in America. All of us can, however, learn to be a little less racist, from white to black, in our day to day lives. The more we embrace diversity directly, the more united we will become.
In the 1960s, Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights activists were aware that integration was key in progressing equality. If we reduce the ignorance, we reduce the racism. Stop voluntary segregation. Stop judging each other based on what we see on TV. Stop letting the small instances of horror rule over the large amounts of love.
It's easy to say what we should do, but it's harder to actually do it. It means that white cops need to get to know the community they're protecting. It means that black protestors need to protest peacefully and respect cops, because most of them are amazing, good people.
The only way to develop this mentality is to start putting in the effort to change.
I want to live in a world where a white person doesn't automatically walk across the street because they see a group of black people at night. I want to live in a world where a black person doesn't feel like he is a criminal just because of their skin color. It may be too late for us, it may not, but it surely isn't too late to teach and transform the next generation.
