“Thirteenth”

I recently attended a showing of “13th”. The group in attendance was small and relatively mixed in terms of race and sex. The discussion was lively and I felt the attendees were honest throughout the discussion.

There were several questions asked and a few statements from people who were totally unaware (I find it difficult to even understand how anyone older than sixty living in America, were completely out-of-the-knowledge-loop)of the legacy of slavery and the horrors visited on black Americans after the so-called Emancipation Proclamation.

These responses from well-meaning people did not echo implicit bias or even coy avoidance of an uncomfortable reality for a whole group of people, many still struggling from the effects of institutionalized racism, a legacy enshrined, empowered and still disseminated by today’s mainstream media.

So, the film left me with many questions, although my past history encompasses the often cruel and violent nature of white men and women used against blacks, well, just because!

Question # 1: Based on our violent and injurious history in these United States, why are we not concerned with black peoples justified fear of whites?

Question # 2: Why are young black boys and girls judged more harshly than white boys and girls? More importantly, why are young black girls as young as five years old judged as sexual, conniving and untrustworthy? What justification did a white, male police officer have for handcuffing a five year old black girl and placing her in the back of his cruiser because she misbehaved? Can you imagine the public outrage if the the girl had been Elizabeth Smart, Honey Boo Boo or any other white child?

Question # 3: Why do white people feel justified in defending the wholesale murder of black men and women by stating “Well, you guys kill each other all of the time” as if there is some weird equivalency between the two?

Question # 4: Why do some white continue to believe that blacks for the most part are subhuman and therefore do not deserve humane treatment?

Question # 5: Why has the incarceration numbers exploded from the 1970’s (approximately 231,000) to well over 2,000,000 today? Why is our so-called Christian nation so invested in not only incarcerating people for decades and then upon release, continue to rob them of their rights as citizens?

Question # 6: Why do so many white people fear blacks, especially those who have never even met a black person? I would posit, respectfully, films depicting blacks as violent and unfeeling, the constant regurgitated nightly news of blacks making the “perp walk” in screaming orange jumpsuits tightly shackled by handcuffs and ankle chains. The rapacity of modern day journalists that “blame the victim” with salacious and credibility destroying stories about the “criminal behavior(s)” (think Trayvon Martin or Philandro Castile, to name a few from a growing garden of tombstones), a kind of justification on the part of modern day journalists to sanction their support for policemen/women to shoot and kill unarmed blacks under the oft repeated guise of “I was in fear for my life”), while keeping their streets “safe”.

Question # 7: If all of these policemen/women that have shot unarmed blacks are so fearful, why don’t they seek employment that won’t require them to shoot or use deadly force against unarmed men and women or unarmed children, albeit, almost always judged as adults by our society, the media, and clearly by the criminal justice system?

The foregoing is just a little something for those who would take the time to read and reflect on why racism in the year 2017 is just simply stupid!