It doesn't really matter where you are located in the world today because racism is always just around the corner, waiting to jump out to spoil your day. With so many cases of police brutality, murders and killings around the world, everyone is paying attention to what's happening in their country, while also stopping to watch America. Throughout my entire life, the country where I was born has always tooted its horn as being the land of the free, the land of liberty, and the land of opportunity for all. At a very young age I learned that this was a full blown lie designed to fool the rest of the world that it was a great nation. More than ever before I am ashamed to be labeled as an American. Leaving a country that hated me from the time I squealed as my Mother was giving birth has given me the opportunity to learn about my history and to try to gain a better understanding why black people will never be equal in the land of liberty, equality, and freedom. My exploration of life has shown me that every country in the world has been involved in the inhumane treatment of people considered inferior. This breaks my heart into many small pieces while at the same time empowering me with the strength to survive.
As I follow the American news stories and reports of killings, murders and abuse by some police officers who follow the directions of an insane, narcissistic, imbecilic leader of a once great country, I feel nothing but sadness in my heart and soul. I also feel a huge amount of anger and disgust for the people who continue to sit by watching and doing nothing to stop the damages that occur every day in the lives of black people, as well as other people of colour.
Ironically, 2020 feels much like the racist behaviours that were happening in the 60s. It feels odd to say that I was not old enough to have experienced things first hand, but today it feels like I am right in the middle of the civil rights battles, fighting for many of the same things that Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr, Huey Newton, and so many others strived to achieve. My question today and everyday remains the same, after all the hard work, has anything changed for black people living in a country that despises them? When I view the big picture, it feels like nothing has changed in my lifetime. I am angry over the injustices that have become a part of what should be a normal life. When I think of my childhood, the memories are scattered. There are fun time that I can remember with my aunts, uncles, cousins and childhood friends playing together and laughing. Then by the age of 9 or 10, I remember learning how not to get killed by police officers because it was always open season on black people, particular boys and men. Most of it I didn't understand, but today, those memories spin around in my head. Like most black boys and men I was accused of several alleged crimes. Today I wonder how I was able to survive without being killed, murdered or lynched for simply wearing the colour of my skin.
My stroll down the path of black history has been a painful one that left me feeling crippled in the beginning. I started learning about the U.S. Constitutional Rights, a document written in 1787 that was a defective amendment from the very start when it used the phrase, "We the people", included in the name of the Framers, "the Whole number of free persons". In 1987, Supreme Court Justice & Civil Rights Advocate, Thurgood Marshall did an exceptional job of speaking out at the Bicentennial Celebration of the Constitution and shared how the negatively designed effects have lasted a lifetime.
In case you didn't know, on the matter of the right to vote, Black slaves were excluded although they were counted for representational purposes at three-fifths each. Southern states acceded to the demands of the New England states for giving Congress power to regulate commerce, in exchange for the right to continue the slave trade. During that time, compromises were given to those who still owned slaves. Blacks were considered to be an inferior group and unfit to associate with the white race and therefore regarded as property to be held or sold at will. White people continue to be taught they are chosen by God, to take the land of indigenous people and define what is human. It's odd because not one person I have questioned in 50 years has ever met this individual called Mr. God. It's almost comical to hear various evil people hold the bible and swear to tell nothing but the truth or stand up and encourage congregations to hate someone for the colour of their skin all in God's name. My favourite is to hear them say, God wants you to give money to your church so your pastor can have a new Cadillac. I have been involved with a number of religions to discover which one is the real religion. I have discovered that most of the teachers of religion are fake and users wanting to get rich quick. I suppose there are a few honest religious leaders, but I haven't met one yet.
Today, I am painfully reminded of all the horrible injustices against Black people in the world. It's happening everywhere to people regardless of what country they are in. It feels like being forced to watch a horrible movie over and over again to get you to forget what's true. Racism is being practiced globally, but America is the leader of racism and hatred, the true infection. I watch corporations coming forward now to join Black people in their fight for justice, but where were they 5 years ago when they were not willing to even interview a black person or a person of colour for a job. When you walk into any of the companies that populate Silicon Valley in Northern California you may or may not be surprised that very few people in the top positions are black, if any at all. None of this is by accident but on purpose. "What we've known for a long time, black people in the United States and other people of colour have chronic disease at younger ages and are more likely to have more than one condition," said David Williams, from the Harvard School of Public Health. "So, they are just physiologically more compromised and therefore more vulnerable to the pandemic."
Every day I give thanks to my mentor, the late Dr. Julia Hare, who inspired me with so much of her wisdom and the strength to survive in a world that hates me and anyone who looks like me because of the colour of my skin. In 1980 as a young naive man out of college, she hired me to work with her in one of the top radio stations in San Francisco. Dr. Hare taught me the truth about the world and how to listen and observe everything buzzing around me. She taught me that white supremacy was here to stay. To my surprise she added that the white pillowcases with holes punched out for eyes and sheets to cover the body would be coming off of the Ku Klux Klan members. Soon she added, "They will be taking key positions as Supreme Court Judges, filling the House of Representatives and the Senate in order to influence or eliminate policies, become Chiefs of Staff at Medical facilities in order to provide or deny medical services to certain people, move into CEO positions with major corporations and financial institutions to control the money." She continued to share that they also would become School Superintendents and Principals in order to control what certain children of colour were learning and eventually they would rise to the rank of President, Chancellor, Prime Minister, Governor or Police Chief in order to have full control and abuse power.
It's not easy to make changes in a culture of hate and much easier to pretend that it doesn't exist. The hardest part was learning a history that I didn't know existed since it was not taught in the education system for a reason. If any group of people are not taught their history, they will grow up with the wrong history and continue without the fight to discover the truth. For many years it felt like a white supremacist society broke my leg and penalised me for limping to a job interview, for a bank loan to purchase a house, setting up redlines to prevent me to move into certain neighbourhoods, to be accepted in a prestigious college or simply walking into a grocery store with the fear of being arrested for the colour of your skin. All of those old thoughts are no longer a part of my mindset. The time for making change is now. The recent protest over the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, and so many others, remind me of the number of black people that have been murdered over the years. As I walk thru history I am reminded that in 1669, the State of Virginia enacted a code called the Casual Killing Act which declared it legal to kill a slave or Black person while correcting because malice could not be presumed. The “casual killing of slaves” says that if a slave dies while resisting his master, the act will not be presumed to have occurred with deliberate malice. The killer would always go free. Does this sound familiar? How many police officers commit murders over and over again without any ramifications? As long as I can remember, it was joke that kill a black man or boy for fun. No reason is needed, just say, as Karen did in Central Park New York, my life feels threatened.
So how do we start to make changes in the midst of times bred by racism? I am proud of our young leaders that are taking center stage and speaking out with confidence. What the world is seeing today is a group of people that are beyond tired and responding now with what has been taught by white supremacist. Today, America is fortunate that black people only want equality and not revenge, but tomorrow is a different day. This is the first time that I truly understand when Malcolm X said, "When you hear me say by any means necessary, I mean exactly that. I believe in anything that is necessary to correct unjust conditions, political, economic, social, physical, anything that is necessary." It's all starting to make sense.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson released an article called, Reflections On the Color of My Skin, that I highly recommend reading. In his article he shared ideas for making systemic changes to the issues that we have been facing for over 300 years. I totally agree with his recommendations for change to be considered by policy experts:
1) Extend Police Academies to include months of cultural awareness and sensitivity training that also includes how not to use lethal force.
2) All Police officers should be tested for any implicit bias they carry, with established thresholds of acceptance and rejection from the Police Academy. We all carry bias. But most of us do not hold the breathing lives of others in our hands (or under our knees) when influenced by it.
3) During protests, protect property. Protect lives. If you attack non-violent protesters you are being un-American. And we wouldn’t need draconian curfews if police arrested looters instead of protesters.
4) If fellow officers are behaving in a way that is clearly unethical or excessively violent, and you witness this, please stop them. Someone will get that on video, offering the rest of us confidence that you can police yourselves. In these cases, our trust in you matters more to a civil society than how much you stick up for each other.
5) And here’s a radical idea for the Minneapolis Police Department — why not give George Floyd the kind of full-dress funeral you give each other for dying in the line of duty? And vow that such a death will never happen again.
6) When you see Black kids in the street, think of what they can be rather than what you think they are.
I would add a couple of items to his incredible list of ideas to include:
7) Better oversight on personnel facilitating trainings for police officers to make sure they are not being fed the wrong information and encouraged to go out and kill people if they feel their lives are in danger. From my work with police officers in the past, several have confided in me that they are taught the touch their guns when they see a black boy or man, whether he is doing something or just sitting. They are taught to believe that black people are killers, robbers, rapists and their lives are in danger when they see a black man or boy. Check out one of America's most popular police trainers teaching police how to kill.
8) The encouragement of all communities of colour to vote and stand in line the way they did for toilet paper at the beginning of COVID-19. Not voting is actually a silent vote for an unethical candidate that you may regret in time.
9) Helping communities, especially African American communities to recover from trauma and administer racial healing in order to move forward and excel. Although many of us didn't go through the dehumanisation of slavery, many of us hold on to the sad stories. It's key to know and to understand the history and to rise. It's a cross that white people must bear for a life time and accept the privileges obtained merely because of the colour of their skin. There are ways that our white friends can use their privileges to help the cause and facilitate change. It's time to stop believing the lies that have been taught or the negative thoughts shared supposedly in the name of God, like holding up a bible in front of a church really says nothing at all.
10) Politicians need to get out of bed with the National Rifle Association and get serious about gun laws. It seems like every white supremacist has several guns that look as if they are preparing to go off to war. They walk down the street with them, protest and march with them, even enter fast food restaurants with them with out being stopped by on-duty police. All to say that politicians and political parties need to be held responsible and guidelines should be set for lobbyists lavishing elected officials with lots of campaign dollars in exchange for favours later.
What are your thoughts? I would be honoured for you to share your ideas on what you think can be done to help rebuild communities all over the world.
