I am sure we all know at least one person who doesn’t understand the Black Lives Matter Movement. We’ve all seen the false ANTIFA propaganda. We’ve all seen at least one video of an abuse of power from those men in blue who swore to “protect and serve.” And although they swear it, they never seem to keep their promise.
So what’s the big deal? Why is BLM so important? Well, you see, when you give an ultimatum to generations of People of Color to either be oppressed or be secretly oppressed, chances are they are going to stand up and fight against that ultimatum once they’ve had enough. And let me tell you, We the People, have certainly had enough. Best said in a tweet by Tay Anderson, a BLM activist in Denver CO, “Black Folks are not negotiating justice, we are DEMANDING justice!”
Let’s start at the beginning, after slavery was abolished in 1865, people in power still did not want equality for people that looked different from them. From there, they introduced Jim Crow laws and segregation. All of which allowed for separate treatment, standards, societal norms and socioeconomic disparities to flourish. Thus using “separate but equal” as an excuse.
Think about it: if everything has to be done separately, is it really equal?
After the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it unlawful to discriminate for race, color, religion, sex and national origin, it was becoming less socially acceptable to be openly racist in the U.S. However, lawmakers and people in positions of power found little ways to continue the oppression of minorities in the United States.
After segregation ended in 1965, suburbs became a growing interest for the white public. White families moved out of the urban cities they once loved, to build new lives in their gated communities with white picket fences commonly known as the “white flight”. Black families were left with the difficult balance of contributing to society, fighting for true equity, and living in under funded communities with underfunded public schools, libraries, recreation centers, parks, and a variety of other public use goods and services. This CONTINUES till present day. It is still happening in black and brown communities as we speak. In an article from Frank Gettridge, for the Hechinger Report published in 2019, he explains “On the whole, non-white school districts receive $23 billion less than white school districts, despite serving the same number of students.” The socioeconomic disparities go deeper than just funding however.
The “War on Drugs” also had a detrimental impact on black and brown communities from 1970 to present day. The mass hysteria and propaganda created racial tension within the white general public, leading to an increase in bias. As well as a rise in incarceration rates and this increase continues in 2020. An article by the Drug Policy Alliance states, “The number of people behind bars for nonviolent drug law offenses increased from 50,000 in 1980 to over 400,000 by 1997.” That’s over 700 percent in a span of less than 20 years. In the present day, there are currently 3 million people incarcerated. Now, they aren’t all minorities, however the NAACP reports, “32% of the US population is represented by African Americans and Hispanics, compared to 56% of the US incarcerated population being represented by African Americans and Hispanics.”
When people see this statistic, it gets easy to make assumptions about minorities, about their past, about their future, about their present. But let’s all keep in mind that according to the United States Sentencing Commission “Black male offenders received sentences on average 19.1 percent longer than similarly situated White male offenders.” You can read more about the demographics here.
So is that what BLM is fighting against? Is fighting for?
Well, the answer to that question is yes and no.
We are fighting for the past AND the present.
Let’s take a look at things happening in the present day that are affecting the black and brown communities.
Unfair treatment of black and brown people in the classroom, truly affects all aspects of POC communities. This is most commonly known as the school to prison pipeline. It perpetuates an unequal justice system in schools, where black students are 3X more likely to be suspended and expelled, twice as likely to not finish high school, and make up 70% of school arrests. Queen X of BIPOC Alliance states that, “The school pipeline to prison system was my personal event. It ruined my family and the relationship I had with my sons as a loving and supportive parent. I couldn’t keep them safe from the system and there are many resentments that still exist when they are released home.”
Demetriece Langston, Queen X’s eldest son explains “The personal events that have inspired me to engage in BLM activism is simple: my life! My brothers have been wrongly incarcerated for extensive periods of time simply from the words and accusations, not proof, of white men and women. My family has been targeted and harassed by police in a manner we’d never experienced or had to deal with, even with the blatant racism we have dealt with in the south during the time we lived there.”
We can’t forget about gentrification, or cultural appropriation, or workplace discrimination, how about microaggressions? Or maybe you’re familiar with the names Trayvon Martin, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Jammal Moore, or the man who sparked the rise of BLM George Floyd.
These are only 7 out of 1337, names of black people that have been killed by cops since 2016 according to this Washington Post article. The thing is many of these murders have gotten covered up, not reported on, abandoned in a sense. It shows the lack of value for black lives in the United States and that is why We the People are outraged.
Queen X adds, “Just tonight (9/23/20) Breonna Taylors murderers go home to their families and laugh about how they got off. The sad part is I’m fighting the same injustice they did.”
The generational trauma of stop and frisk, Jim Crow laws, racial profiling, and mass incareceation has led to an uprising. An uprising for not only equality but also equity in a country that sees black lives as nothing more than a threat. We are not a threat, we are humans, we are contributors to society, WE ARE THE PEOPLE AND WE DEMAND TO BE HEARD NOW MORE THAN EVER.
So when you have those uncomfortable conversations with yourself, your friends, family, or even strangers, know that BLM isn’t due to one thing, one person, one action, it is the multiple situations, the recurring systemic racism, the socioeconomic disparities, the generational trauma and SO MANY MORE THINGS that have compiled onto the shoulders of People of Color for years on end. And THAT is what we are fighting for.
