How can the oppressor shape the narrative of the oppressed?
Media, critics and white supremacy have once again altered the narrative of a protest made by a couple of football players last season.
In Ferguson, Missouri, the Black Lives Matter movement was deemed violent.
The story of Trayvon Martin became about wearing a hoodie.
Sandra Bland had an attitude.
Mike Brown was a thief.
Eric Garner resisted arrest.
Colin Kaepernick disrespected a flag and military veterans by first sitting and then kneeling.
Now two Chicago police officers are under scrutiny for making a social statement.
The rhetoric continues to blame the victim, yet the source remains largely ignored.
The root cause is about social injustices that ultimately lead to political disenfranchisement. Racism at its core is about the initial social maltreatment before the bills can ever cross a desk for a signature. The large perception of otherness plagues the interactions before policy reinforces a particular set of behaviors that become perpetual.
We neglect to discuss the historical fabric of slavery woven into the fabric of the American flag. We bypass the discourse of the drafting of the founding documents of this country; whereby all men were created equal except him a black man, and then he is considered 3/5 of a human.
A few wars later said subhuman was still not allowed to vote in a country in which his kin shed blood. He was not afforded the same opportunities as racial counterparts. Jim Crow made sure to instill the fear of a blonde, blue-eyed Christ symbol in efforts that colored folks know their places.
White hoods, lynching and burning crosses stain and disrespect the American flag!
Rape of slave women stains the American flag.
The problem is that you cannot compartmentalize parts of history and call this America great without delving into the crevices of its foundation.
The 45th president is testing the resolve of fundamental bigotry that was the trowel used to spread the cement of hatred.
The narrative has been successfully spun.
We no longer discuss in whole the racial disparity, police brutality, the separate and unequal educational system and the biased justice system.
We continue to focus on the message of one man that never wholeheartedly detached himself from a group of white supremacists but would rather attend a pseudo Klan rally and call Kaepernick a “son of a bitch!”
This is how 45 wins. We fall for the pageantry and show. We watch the media give him more coverage than Kaepernick’s charitable ventures.
We argue about why or why not to protest watching the NFL.
We argue about the legacy of President Obama.
We argue about if all lives matter.
We sit in the comfort of our friends and have debates of change.
We continue to discuss everything about a protest, except the root cause.
A root canal is painful, as I am told. Nobody asks for a root canal. We will address all other possibilities until the dentist come back with the diagnostic criteria for one. We fast approach a moment when we will have to face inevitable.
White people as a whole have to decide when to openly have conversations about race. Some white folk will have to acknowledge the white guilt that hinders forward discussions. This very white guilt spills over into policy analysis and financial gain from the free labor of slavery.
The media has to humanize black people.
We have to come to terms about using black as qualifier for justifiable homicide.
The time is right.
Are you willing?