“We live in a culture obsessed with power and violence in general. The most vulnerable among us will fall first.”
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I am angry about this mess we are in from a viral desire to maintain the power structure at all costs. There were, yet again, multiple instances of young black males being harassed and even killed by police officers. This has included excessive force, general harassment, and over zealous response to protest in a variety of situations.
“But you’re a play guy, Kwame, you aren’t supposed to be angry! Make us a magical game to solve it all.”
Not right now. I’m angry. I want to play with you. I want you to play with each other. But two people can’t play together if one has a boot on his neck.
Rather than talk about the details of each situation, and what folks deserved or didn’t deserve – I want to have a different conversation. I want to have a conversation about the origins of this virus, who is the most vulnerable to this virus, and how we can treat this virus by building community.
The Virus
When a soldier comes home with PTSD, we don’t call this person out about his or her behavior as if it is “their fault”. Does this mean they don’t make choices sometimes to commit crimes? No. This means that we frame their issues as a consequence of war. Most people say: “Look at what war does to them”. We acknowledge it as a disease produced by the horrors of war. We look to treat the problem.
The problem with considering the actions, situations and reactions to the behavior of young black males is that the history is a very long one, and it has been every bit as devastating as war.
So when you say “Well they ARE violent!” – you are beginning your journey at the wrong time point in history.
You are also forgetting that the vast majority of males of African descent, despite the long history of violence against them and around them, are not violent. You cannot separate the behavior of a group from its history, or paint the behavior of a percentage as the whole, and say you are telling the truth. Because you are not.
So let us first realize that the problem did not start with the black male. It started with the virus. It started with a power structure that desperately wanted to use those of African descent to build that power, and needed to demonize/dehumanize in order to serve that goal. We cannot move forward until every single person acknowledges that fact. That doesn’t mean that naming the virus is the solution. It means that we have to do that first, so that we can employ the proper solutions.
You want to treat or cure Ebola? Know its structure first. Know how it spreads. Further, know that it is still being created every day. When has the black male not been vilified and hunted? Name me one decade.
I want you to do an experiment. I want you to have a child, show them mostly images of those that look like them being violent, tell them it is their fault and just the way they are, and stick them in a school with other kids whose parents are conducting this same experiment. Don’t let them interact much with others who aren’t in the experiment. Not willing to do this? I don’t blame you. You won’t do it. You already know how it will turn out, don’t you?
If you are an white American that is reading this – no I don’t believe YOU are the source. If you actively participate in spreading the idea that all black males are violent, I think you are infected as well. If you are infected with a virus, and you are in an unhealthy environment, this virus gains in power. We live in a culture obsessed with power and violence in general. The most vulnerable among us will fall first. Those that are shut in with other infected persons and cut off from treatment will be more likely to contract the virus. Now think about Chicago.
“Aren’t you just making excuses?”
No. I have an entirely different conversation with the young black males that I mentor. I talk about, endorse, and demand personal responsibility. But I also love them. So I can do that because I am doing it lovingly. If you ever meet a student of mine, they will tell you that. I am having this conversation with all of YOU. Because solving this will be about meeting people halfway.
If you think someone that hates a child telling them to act right is the most viable solution for that child, then you are not thinking clearly or logically. Yup, I said it. I know that’s “negative”. I care about truth more than I care about stroking someone’s ego. But I want to tell you the truth and then hug you. Will that work? Let’s see.
The virus has also mutated to demonize the young in general. We have zero tolerance in schools. We criminalize behavior that would have, a generation ago, been dealt with as the naturally unruly actions of children. So, then imagine being a black child. Double whammy. Why do I keep mentioning race? Because young people are being judged as if there is a level playing field, and I am trying to get you to realize that the field is not only slanted but filled with land mines. I am also trying to get you to understand that you should be standing with, not working against. White parents are not having to have “the talk” with their children at 11-12 years old (or younger in some areas).
This virus has even mutated, over time, to cause violence and aggression toward anyone who does not line up with the power structure. Those of European descent or Semitic persuasion who stood up with those of African descent during the civil rights movement, or spoke out against war, were cut down too. But again, none as much and as often and consistently as the black male. Imagine being a black male who speaks out against the power structure. You could be killed. Malcolm X, MLK.
What does this do to children? All of us were children once. This is prime time for infection or treatment. While we are forming our ideas about the world and each other, we are vulnerable to the virus. Imagine if you are forming your ideas about the world in a violent neighborhood where the cops hate you from day 1.
Now I will assume that you understood what I just said, and that there was not a single moment in this article where I said “all white people are racist, and all black people are victims”. So let’s move on to solving the problem.
Treating the Virus
I started Move Theory to be about finding and solving the roots of our disconnect from one another. Play is a part of that. But for me, play has always been a conduit to true health and togetherness. In fact, I do not believe that we can have true, widespread and consistent health without a sense of togetherness, of community.
I want you to imagine what would happen differently in these deadly situations if we all grew up playing with one another. Not just the people like us, but the people not like us. What if that cop sees that young black male as someone he knows personally, or as someone who’s family he knows? What if that cop sees that young black male as just like several of his friends? But he doesn’t, because largely they aren’t. They don’t travel in the same circles, they live in different neighborhoods. We are still so extremely segregated. More and more, I see a growing and general antipathy toward other humans. I see a growing and general isolation from one another. Those that were marginalized from the beginning will catch the brunt of this.
We need to play with one another, to know one another, from the beginning. I didn’t say “live near one another”. I said play with one another. Proximity is not play. Proximity without love and togetherness is worse than never having met.
Police need to get back to walking the beat, understanding the community, and building relationships. That used to happen. Though it never happened consistently toward the black community, it could now. What if the cop’s kids are playing with other kids in that low income community? Will he look at their fathers differently? What if he grows up playing with kids that look just like this young man he is looking at? Achievable Dream, in Virginia Beach, fosters regular interaction between police officers and its students. Why? Because they believe in fostering a sense of community in both groups. Police also need to be trained not as future bad ass gun toting cowboys, but as people truly called to protect and serve. Watch this video, then keep reading.
This is my case for organized play. No, I don’t mean sports. No, I do not mean telling kids what to do and how they should move at every moment. I mean organizing situations where kids from different backgrounds play with one another. On a regular basis. Not just as a gimmick or public relations opportunity. I mean creating situations where kids get to pick what they would like to do, and where everyone plays with everyone. Can kids from different backgrounds and cultures play with one another? Yes. I have facilitated this myself. It even happens at certain schools. It just doesn’t happen enough.
There is something that happens when we touch each other, and interact in fun. No speeches, no debates, just moving and playing. I’ve been watching this in action in every kind of community for 17 years.
Further, we need to think about creating opportunity in lower income neighborhoods, rather than alternately pacifying or gentrifying. The fact that unemployment rates are higher, that resources are stripped out of minority neighborhoods, does not bode well.
I don’t want to condemn anyone, or hate anyone. I just want us to tell each other the truth, because I love us so much. I want us to make up and play. But we can’t play if I have a boot on my neck and you don’t have one on yours.
Photo: Shankbone/Flickr
Originally appeared at DrKwameBrown.com