An open letter to my white friends in America

A couple of months ago, my wife and I were pulled over for speeding in Montana. It was about 3am, we were heading to the airport on a highway, and we were about 15mph over the limit. To make matters worse, the State Trooper informed us that the registration of the rental car we were driving had expired a month earlier. We were speeding in an unregistered car with California license plates in the dead of night. He let us off with the lowest possible infraction — A $40 fine, no permanent record, no need to appear in court, and an admonition to be more careful “for our own safety”.

When I recounted this story to Anton, a colleague of mine, I remarked that everything had turned out ok. His response was “because you’re white.” I laughed, “I guess so.”

That joke isn’t funny anymore.

The senseless murder of Sam Dubose by policeman Ray Tensing, during what should have been a straightforward traffic stop, is fucking disgusting.

The murder of Walter Scott, shot in the back while running away from cop Michael Slager, is fucking disgusting.

The ridiculous escalation of Sandra Bland’s traffic stop by Brian Encinia, which eventually led to her death in police custody, is fucking disgusting.

Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray. The deaths in police custody of four other black women in the last couple of weeks. And remembering of course, that these are just the cases that we know about.

The treatment of black people in this country, especially by law enforcement and the criminal justice system, is a national disgrace.

Some of these deaths were considered lawful. I am not a lawyer, but I am a human, and all of these deaths were inhumane. And I’m convinced that, had the victims been white, their stories would have played out differently.

Despite the desperate desire of progressives who wish it were otherwise, and an inane ruling from the Supreme Court, racism remains endemic in the United States.

You should be outraged by this. If you’re my friend, you probably are. But it is not enough to be outraged. If you think this should stop — and it must stop — you have to say something. You.

Whether you want it to or not, our collective silence in the face of these atrocities demonstrates a tacit acceptance of them. Every time an injustice like this takes place, if we are quiet, we are complicit.

This probably makes you uncomfortable. I understand that. But, your comfort is not more important than people’s lives.

You might be worried about making a mistake or phrasing something incorrectly, or being shouted at. I understand that. But, being shouted at for making a mistake is not worse than being choked to death.

In short, the troubles you might face in speaking up about this are nothing, nothing, compared to the actual trouble of wondering if you might die today because of the colour of your skin.

You can start by elevating other voices. Follow and listen to people who have a perspective that you can’t have. People like Elon James, or Michelle Norris, or Ta-Nehisi Coates, or Sherrilyn Ifill, or W.E.B.B.I.E DuBois. Read the tweets in #SayHerName and #BlackLivesMatter. Retweet and share articles, photos and videos that document the problem. If they make you angry, say so.

Talk to your family and friends about this. Do not stand idly by while your cousin on Facebook casually remarks that All lives matter. Or that people get what they deserve when they mouth off to a cop.

Dear white friends, we are the system. White people overwhelmingly have the positions of power in this country. We benefit every day from social structures that are tilted overwhelmingly in our favour.

Next year is an election year. Tell your representatives that this matters to you. The political system might be bought and paid for, but they do have to at least give the impression of representing the people. And they are more likely to listen to affluent whites than any other demographic.

Even this isn’t likely to do much. Our politics are part of the problem, and possibly the root cause — the system under whose authority other systems are instituted and legitimised. Perhaps the best thing you can do is raise awareness. Make some noise. Document abuse when you see it. Share it. Tell the world it’s not fucking ok.

I too have been guilty of standing by and watching. Of wondering whether I’m co-opting a movement. Of worrying about offending. Of avoiding speaking, so as to avoid accidentally saying something that could be misinterpreted. Of shaking my head and moving on.

No more.

White privilege is being stopped by a traffic cop, and not wondering if you are going to die. If you have that privilege, you owe it to your fellow citizens to help ensure they never have to worry about it either.