The Real Reason Behind the Charlotte Protests
Dissecting race relations and police brutality
By Bennett Stillerman
The Progressive Teen Staff Writer
RECENTLY, THE RIOTS THAT INFESTED THE STREETS IN CHARLOTTE made national headlines. Lauded as “Ferguson 2.0,” America groaned and shook its head in shame as it braced for yet another round of civil unrest. But, what’s the real reason for the protests? The knee-jerk reaction is to shrug it off as another outburst of race-fueled anger, economic disparity, or just pure, unadulterated frustration. However, these interpretations all miss the forest for the trees.
Human beings are social creatures. We naturally seek out groups: sports, religious, political, social, work. You name it, there is almost certainly a community for it. Though, like all good things, there comes a downside to such an innate social mentality. Almost every single conflict throughout human history can be traced back to a single unifying cause: tribal politics. My Group vs Your Group. Democrat vs Republican. Black vs White. The presence of some sort of conflict between two different groups has been unwavering since the dawn of our species. Yet, we still insist on blaming the
other should we find reason to. This conflict is no different. To classify this as an issue of race, economy, or politics is far too simple. This is an issue of difference.
Those who have been concerned with the Charlotte riots should note that while the protesters may have been comprised of an African-American majority, there were people from a great variety of skin color and ethnicity. This seemingly innocuous fact tells us much about the nature of these protests. Surely Caucasians and African Americans would not be protesting on the same side if there was a race war plaguing America? Then, perhaps racial divide is simply the symptom of a larger problem: the disease of complete division between the police and everyone else.
It is clearly apparent that during these riots, the police response is nothing like a typical afternoon. Dressed in full riot gear, shoulder-to-shoulder, they form the Great Wall of the Law. The physical division is quite indicative of the problem. We do not see the police as our friends, we see them as our enemy, and vice versa. We cannot have a productive conversation on healing the divide without acknowledging its presence.
The protests are about systemic violence, and if we can peer through the smoke and tear gas, we might be able to glimpse the light at the end of the tunnel.
Charlotte’s poor neighborhoods are ravaged with disproportionate enforcement of the war on drugs, sentencing an entire group of people to unjust hardship. They may struggle from meal to meal. They may not be able to sleep comfortably with any regularity, if at all. They may be shunned by a cold and cruel world. They may be left to fend for themselves, or die. Not that it seems to matter to the rest of us.
“The protests are about systemic violence, and if we can peer through the smoke and tear gas, we might be able to glimpse the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Likewise, Charlotte’s police force, like all others, has been the subject of unnecessarily harsh criticism. They are vilified, as if they stand for everything that’s wrong with America. They lay their lives on the line every day, seemingly to no avail. They come home at night to see yet another news story of one of their own dead in the streets because someone decided that the best way to solve systemic violence is with more violence.
That being said, I do not condone violent protests. The equivalent of throwing gasoline on a fire, it does nothing except to further destroy discourse between fellow Americans, causing the same ugly cycle to repeat itself again, and we all lose.
So what do we do?
We must do what our founders implored us to do. Speak up. Acknowledge the problem. Talk to others. Push for meaningful reform that benefits us all. Use the existing systems in order to enact change but never forget that conflict arises from difference. Thus our solutions must have our societal well-being in mind, not just the benefit of a few.
There is no easy answer. There may not even be a right answer. But there is a difference between action and complicity. One thing is for certain: in order for things to improve, we must boldly march forth into the future — not as you and I, but as us.
