Over the past few days, I have seen a variety of responses regarding the riots and lootings that have been taking place in cities across our country. This post is directed to all of my white friends and neighbors who may feel angry or upset about these riots and lootings.
When black and other marginalized people in our country have been oppressed, abused, and murdered for over 400 years, we don't get to tell anyone what to do with their pain and anger. We don't get to dictate how people respond to the pain and injustice that we have caused by our silence, by our church's silence, by our colorblindness, by our eurocentric curriculums, by our denial of white privilege, by our culutral appropriation, by all of the ways that we subtly embody white supremacy day after day that contribute to a national climate that empowers murderers and permits them to sleep in their own bed in their own home after taking a black person's life on camera. We don't get to complain when we could have prevented the anger and pain that people are experiencing, but instead we have chosen a path of inaction, passivity, and complicity in a racisit system.
If the looting and riots that are happening around our country bother us more than the racist jokes we hear at work, if we feel that looting and riots are not the right way to go about responding to injustice, if we are more upset and angry about burning buildings and looting than we are about systemic injustice that kills people, if we think that George Floyd's murder was horrible but that lootings and riots are unacceptable, then we must engage in the very serious business of removing the logs and beams of white supremacy from our own eyes and lives before we continue to accuse rioters and looters.
I am not promoting looting or riots. But looting and riots don't happen when people feel heard, valued, safe, and protected. Looting and riots happen when people feel pain after generations of abuse and terror. Looting and riots happen when people are angry and hurt and not listened to after years of peaceful protests. Looting and riots are byproducts of the much deeper problem of white supremacy that has permeated our culture.
I anticipate a few objections to what I have stated. I expect that some people may bring up the protesters and note that there is a difference between the protesters and the rioters and looters. That is true. I agree. Many protesters around the country are protesting peacefully to express their demands for change. Some of these protesters are being met with police who have violently escalated situations while other protesters have been joined by police who also want to see change occur. It is important to recognize that protesters are not rioting and looting. They are protesting. Other people may insist that some of the rioters and looters are opprotunists who are involved for selfish gain. That may be true as well for some of the people who are rioting and looting. Still others may suggest that some riots and lootings have occurred in low-income minority communites and caused destruction that further hurts the communities. This is also a true statement. I imagine that some people may read this and mention that some looters and rioters are white people. Another true statement. And if you are one of the white looters and rioters, consider that you are part of the violent response to the problem that you actually caused. But none of that is the point that I am trying to make. I am saying that we, white people in the United States of America, need to be careful how we talk about the riots and lootings that we are witnessing because we could have prevented them. This post is not about the rioters or the looters or the police. It is about us and our collective responsibility for the events that we see unfolding.
So, what do we do next?
First, stop talking about looters and rioters as if they are the most problematic people in our country right now. We must take ownership of how our complacency has allowed this to happen instead of blaming others for how they react to our complacency.
Second, do the work of uprooting white supremacy in and around you. This is a life long process. Get started now, and don't stop. If you are not sure where to start, I suggest Be the Bridge 101, a resource created by Be the Bridge, an organization founded by Latasha Morrison.
When black and other marginalized people in our country have been oppressed, abused, and murdered for over 400 years, we don't get to tell anyone what to do with their pain and anger. We don't get to dictate how people respond to the pain and injustice that we have caused by our silence, by our church's silence, by our colorblindness, by our eurocentric curriculums, by our denial of white privilege, by our culutral appropriation, by all of the ways that we subtly embody white supremacy day after day that contribute to a national climate that empowers murderers and permits them to sleep in their own bed in their own home after taking a black person's life on camera. We don't get to complain when we could have prevented the anger and pain that people are experiencing, but instead we have chosen a path of inaction, passivity, and complicity in a racisit system.
If the looting and riots that are happening around our country bother us more than the racist jokes we hear at work, if we feel that looting and riots are not the right way to go about responding to injustice, if we are more upset and angry about burning buildings and looting than we are about systemic injustice that kills people, if we think that George Floyd's murder was horrible but that lootings and riots are unacceptable, then we must engage in the very serious business of removing the logs and beams of white supremacy from our own eyes and lives before we continue to accuse rioters and looters.
I am not promoting looting or riots. But looting and riots don't happen when people feel heard, valued, safe, and protected. Looting and riots happen when people feel pain after generations of abuse and terror. Looting and riots happen when people are angry and hurt and not listened to after years of peaceful protests. Looting and riots are byproducts of the much deeper problem of white supremacy that has permeated our culture.
I anticipate a few objections to what I have stated. I expect that some people may bring up the protesters and note that there is a difference between the protesters and the rioters and looters. That is true. I agree. Many protesters around the country are protesting peacefully to express their demands for change. Some of these protesters are being met with police who have violently escalated situations while other protesters have been joined by police who also want to see change occur. It is important to recognize that protesters are not rioting and looting. They are protesting. Other people may insist that some of the rioters and looters are opprotunists who are involved for selfish gain. That may be true as well for some of the people who are rioting and looting. Still others may suggest that some riots and lootings have occurred in low-income minority communites and caused destruction that further hurts the communities. This is also a true statement. I imagine that some people may read this and mention that some looters and rioters are white people. Another true statement. And if you are one of the white looters and rioters, consider that you are part of the violent response to the problem that you actually caused. But none of that is the point that I am trying to make. I am saying that we, white people in the United States of America, need to be careful how we talk about the riots and lootings that we are witnessing because we could have prevented them. This post is not about the rioters or the looters or the police. It is about us and our collective responsibility for the events that we see unfolding.
So, what do we do next?
First, stop talking about looters and rioters as if they are the most problematic people in our country right now. We must take ownership of how our complacency has allowed this to happen instead of blaming others for how they react to our complacency.
Second, do the work of uprooting white supremacy in and around you. This is a life long process. Get started now, and don't stop. If you are not sure where to start, I suggest Be the Bridge 101, a resource created by Be the Bridge, an organization founded by Latasha Morrison.
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