RACISM IN AMERICA
What I Have Learned So Far
That I believe have not been covered extensively already
1. Racism is a health issue. Covid, and disease in general, is NOT the great equalizer. Black people are dying from Covid-19 at 3 times the rate as white people in America. Any “predisposing health factors” are a result of social determinants of health, which are a result of systemic racism. Being born with more melanin (skin pigment for blocking UV radiation) can be a crime and/or death sentence.
2. The broken police system issue is way bigger than most people are aware. Fear-based training combined with heavy lobbying from police unions (for more rights, less transparency, and less consequences) over many years have given “bad cops” the incredible ability to infringe upon human rights and have left victims with no legal precedence to pursue any sort of meaningful justice. See this excellent journalism piece disguised as a comedy show: The Broken Policing System — Patriot Act.
3. The looting riots (ones that have damaged/stolen small business property) may have been incited by people unassociated with the largely peaceful protests. There is a video on Twitter of an “umbrella man” smashing windows, being confronted by a peaceful protester, and then promptly leaving the scene. According to fact-checking site Snopes, whether this man was actually an undercover police officer is unproven.
4. Uniformed officers are actively hurting the communities they are supposed to protect, by accelerating their SUVs into crowds, looting the water and milk (used for relief from pepper spray) of peaceful protesters, even shooting rubber bullets at medics.
Enough is enough. Black Lives Matter. Here are some ways to help.
Please give me feedback for this post, if I am missing any good resources or if I am saying anything inaccurate or untruthful. I know that I am not a black person in America with lived experience, but I hope this adds some amount of value to the discourse and I will update this post/write another as I learn more. Thank you for reading.
