Friends, I need your advice. The news of the recent police shootings left me with a heavy heart and the determination to take action, for no more time can be wasted. But I realize that the urgency of the situation demands a constructive approach that has the potential to provide real and effective solutions. And this is what makes me so frustrated, if not desperate.
Before I say anything else, here’s one simple fact. The problem is not with black people, it’s we, white people, who are the problem. So why should we expect the black community to go it alone and do something, twist itself into all sorts of contorted shapes and accept some self-imposed sanctions that we think would let black people safely navigate this world? We need to change ourselves and that’s what the solution should be based on.
My natural impulse is to express my feelings by writing. I remember the quote by Teju Cole I came across not so long ago: “Writing as writing. Writing as rioting. Writing as righting. On the best days, all three.” It sounds just right. However, I know that most of the time I end up preaching to the choir. Most of you here, most of those who read the stuff I write are like-minded people who are equally appalled and concerned. The pen and the word are powerful tools but if they don’t allow me to reach millions of people and affect their views then they’re not enough.
I considered launching an all-out campaign that would prove the reality of police brutality to all the nay-sayers beyond any doubt. Independent statistics, video footage and other kinds of evidence – unfortunately, there’s so much out there that unequivocally speaks of the very real problem that exists in our society. I could write a series of articles or make several videos that I believe would put all this information together in a coherent way so that no one would ever be able to deny what is going on. I could tackle the arguments of disproportionately high crime rate among black people and black-on-black crime that are invariably invoked when it comes to police brutality, and tease out facts from fiction. But then I remembered about all those people who don’t believe in climate change, who distrust statistics whatever its source, who question the very scientific method of obtaining information, those who wouldn’t care about anything I could do. They clearly are the target audience, yet I can’t think of a way to reach them.
Then I also think about how it’s not the lack of facts that leaves so many people questioning the reality of the problem. The shooting of an animal, a gorilla or a lion, causes a much bigger outrage than the shooting of a black person. Many people are more likely to believe in UFOs and Bigfoot based on fake blurry videos than to confront the reality of police bias documented in the crisp and clear footage. I don’t know the recipe for this numbness, whether it comes down to the history of the United States, the general lack of empathy or something else. What I do know, is that it has to be changed.
At the same time, I need to acknowledge that all the evidence is a double-edged sword. While it should be useful in courts of law and public opinion, it desensitizes people to this brutality directed towards black people. So it has to be used with caution.
So I really don’t know what to do to help make black lives matter. Where should I start? How do I inspire others to join me? I’m thousands of miles away and in a society that’s as culturally different as it is geographically distant, with no context to put this very American problem in and make it count. All I have is the Internet, this large glossy window into the land of the free and the home of the brave that affords an incomplete and obfuscated view of what's beyond its beautiful facade and won’t let me transgress its translucent borders and be with you in this difficult time. But I really want to be a part of the solution.
Even being so far away I do have an idea that I think will help. So much information is shared daily, has been shared for centuries, in fact, that paints a very grim picture of what the black community is all about, that portrays black men as inherently dangerous, that equates blackness to all the unpleasant things in the world. And we all know how much power these images wield. So maybe we should start a counter-offensive and actively promote positive perceptions of the black community? Black fathers spending quality time with their kids, black men and women graduating from top universities or being at the forefront of the latest scientific discovery. White people should do this on a consistent and regular basis to balance the story and straighten out the narrative that is fed to us from the news. This way we could address the most deeply-entrenched sentiments that have formed throughout the centuries and that subconsciously affect all of our decisions. I believe it can bring about some degree of change. But this is a long-term solution that requires the time that black people just don’t have. There has to be something else. I would be very glad to listen to your opinions on how to organize a concerted action that would have a positive impact on many people and prove that black lives matter.
UPDATE
Right after I finished writing this, I learned about what happened in Dallas. Those who killed several police officers as the peaceful protest against police brutality was turning to an end are responsible for what is as horrid and reprehensible a crime as the ones that elicited the protest in the first place. Most importantly, the perpetrators clearly aren’t concerned for black lives, for just like when it comes to a handful of terrorists who follow a perverted interpretation of Islam endangering the Muslim population around the globe, their actions will be seen as justification for the treatment that black people receive by the police. The frustration and anger that are out there are understandable and well-warranted, but turning against all police officers will only aggravate the already complicated problem and drive the wedge between the black and the law enforcement communities even further. And that wedge isn’t even supposed to be there. It should be obvious that concerns for black lives and the lives of those officers who honorably do their tough job and fall victim to senseless violence aren’t mutually exclusive.
With that said, we should not be distracted from one of the most persistent problems that haunt the American society – the fact that black people are mistreated, cheated out of their rights and killed in ways that aren’t and have never been justified, and that the rest of us silently accept this as the norm. It’s hard not to look back and realize that the police force, along with most other institutions in the country, originally was not designed to protect black citizens and treat them equally. It comes as no surprise then that this problem lingers to this day in one form or another, and the fear that white America has of black people is rooted more deeply than we care to admit. But we also have to look towards the future and ensure that these institutions undergo the necessary change, however radical it may need to be, to one day live up to the promises and the declared principles that the United States of America was founded on. And the first step that we can take today is to collectively accept that black lives matter and that we mean it.
Before I say anything else, here’s one simple fact. The problem is not with black people, it’s we, white people, who are the problem. So why should we expect the black community to go it alone and do something, twist itself into all sorts of contorted shapes and accept some self-imposed sanctions that we think would let black people safely navigate this world? We need to change ourselves and that’s what the solution should be based on.
My natural impulse is to express my feelings by writing. I remember the quote by Teju Cole I came across not so long ago: “Writing as writing. Writing as rioting. Writing as righting. On the best days, all three.” It sounds just right. However, I know that most of the time I end up preaching to the choir. Most of you here, most of those who read the stuff I write are like-minded people who are equally appalled and concerned. The pen and the word are powerful tools but if they don’t allow me to reach millions of people and affect their views then they’re not enough.
I considered launching an all-out campaign that would prove the reality of police brutality to all the nay-sayers beyond any doubt. Independent statistics, video footage and other kinds of evidence – unfortunately, there’s so much out there that unequivocally speaks of the very real problem that exists in our society. I could write a series of articles or make several videos that I believe would put all this information together in a coherent way so that no one would ever be able to deny what is going on. I could tackle the arguments of disproportionately high crime rate among black people and black-on-black crime that are invariably invoked when it comes to police brutality, and tease out facts from fiction. But then I remembered about all those people who don’t believe in climate change, who distrust statistics whatever its source, who question the very scientific method of obtaining information, those who wouldn’t care about anything I could do. They clearly are the target audience, yet I can’t think of a way to reach them.
Then I also think about how it’s not the lack of facts that leaves so many people questioning the reality of the problem. The shooting of an animal, a gorilla or a lion, causes a much bigger outrage than the shooting of a black person. Many people are more likely to believe in UFOs and Bigfoot based on fake blurry videos than to confront the reality of police bias documented in the crisp and clear footage. I don’t know the recipe for this numbness, whether it comes down to the history of the United States, the general lack of empathy or something else. What I do know, is that it has to be changed.
At the same time, I need to acknowledge that all the evidence is a double-edged sword. While it should be useful in courts of law and public opinion, it desensitizes people to this brutality directed towards black people. So it has to be used with caution.
So I really don’t know what to do to help make black lives matter. Where should I start? How do I inspire others to join me? I’m thousands of miles away and in a society that’s as culturally different as it is geographically distant, with no context to put this very American problem in and make it count. All I have is the Internet, this large glossy window into the land of the free and the home of the brave that affords an incomplete and obfuscated view of what's beyond its beautiful facade and won’t let me transgress its translucent borders and be with you in this difficult time. But I really want to be a part of the solution.
Even being so far away I do have an idea that I think will help. So much information is shared daily, has been shared for centuries, in fact, that paints a very grim picture of what the black community is all about, that portrays black men as inherently dangerous, that equates blackness to all the unpleasant things in the world. And we all know how much power these images wield. So maybe we should start a counter-offensive and actively promote positive perceptions of the black community? Black fathers spending quality time with their kids, black men and women graduating from top universities or being at the forefront of the latest scientific discovery. White people should do this on a consistent and regular basis to balance the story and straighten out the narrative that is fed to us from the news. This way we could address the most deeply-entrenched sentiments that have formed throughout the centuries and that subconsciously affect all of our decisions. I believe it can bring about some degree of change. But this is a long-term solution that requires the time that black people just don’t have. There has to be something else. I would be very glad to listen to your opinions on how to organize a concerted action that would have a positive impact on many people and prove that black lives matter.
UPDATE
Right after I finished writing this, I learned about what happened in Dallas. Those who killed several police officers as the peaceful protest against police brutality was turning to an end are responsible for what is as horrid and reprehensible a crime as the ones that elicited the protest in the first place. Most importantly, the perpetrators clearly aren’t concerned for black lives, for just like when it comes to a handful of terrorists who follow a perverted interpretation of Islam endangering the Muslim population around the globe, their actions will be seen as justification for the treatment that black people receive by the police. The frustration and anger that are out there are understandable and well-warranted, but turning against all police officers will only aggravate the already complicated problem and drive the wedge between the black and the law enforcement communities even further. And that wedge isn’t even supposed to be there. It should be obvious that concerns for black lives and the lives of those officers who honorably do their tough job and fall victim to senseless violence aren’t mutually exclusive.
With that said, we should not be distracted from one of the most persistent problems that haunt the American society – the fact that black people are mistreated, cheated out of their rights and killed in ways that aren’t and have never been justified, and that the rest of us silently accept this as the norm. It’s hard not to look back and realize that the police force, along with most other institutions in the country, originally was not designed to protect black citizens and treat them equally. It comes as no surprise then that this problem lingers to this day in one form or another, and the fear that white America has of black people is rooted more deeply than we care to admit. But we also have to look towards the future and ensure that these institutions undergo the necessary change, however radical it may need to be, to one day live up to the promises and the declared principles that the United States of America was founded on. And the first step that we can take today is to collectively accept that black lives matter and that we mean it.
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