Lincoln Anthony Blades explains that when an innocent and unarmed Black man is gunned down by a white man, African Americans aren’t even allowed to express anger at the senseless killing.
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Last week, I was having an interesting conversation with one of my friends, in which she and I discussed a joke my favorite comedian, Bill Burr, said during one of his standup specials. He made a hilarious observation about how racism today is less about angry, over-the-top Klansmen yelling profanities at minorities, and more about quiet, seemingly-innocuous conversations with a vile twist.
When I learned about the verdict in the Jordan Davis murder trial, I was hell-bent on learning why the jury couldn’t convict Michael Dunn with either first-degree or second-degree murder or even manslaughter. Why couldn’t those men and women come to an agreement about what Dunn did before having to declare a mistrial on the murder charge? As I scrolled through various news stories, forums, and social media sites, I read the comments and I noticed a theme that would’ve made me laugh, if I wasn’t so sick with grief. Mostly white commenters were telling the angry, frustrated, and confused Black commenters that they need to “look beyond race” and stop making this a “big race issue,” That liberal racism strikes again.
When George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin, Black folks were told “don’t play the race card” because the issue was about a young thug versus a neighborhood-watching civilian. TV analysts even stepped in front of the camera to blame the hoodie as the main culprit in Martin’s death.
When Jonathan Ferrell was gunned down by North Carolina police while seeking help after suffering through a horrific car crash, Black folks were told to “not jump to any conclusions about race being a factor,” because the officer would have reacted if any man Ferrell’s size had ran at him.
The truth is, it’s NOT Black people’s job to “look beyond race.” It’s the job of the society we live in to relinquish its inherent and systemic racism.
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Whenever an innocent and unarmed Black man is gunned down by a white man, African Americans aren’t even allowed to express anger at the senseless killing, before we are instructed to “stop complaining about race,” and stop ignoring our own community’s issues with “Black-on-Black crime,” the biggest bullshit media-term ever created.
But how can the Black community view tragedies without the prevalent lens of race, when that is a very prominent part of our existence? Racism has never been defeated and white privilege hasn’t decreased. Black folks are still targeted and profiled by the police at a high rate which makes us the primary targets of the prison-industrial complex. Race affects us everyday, yet we are told not to “dwell” on it, as if we have the special ability to choose when we want to be oppressed or discriminated against.
And even with the best intentions, white peoples’ cries to “look beyond race” are aimed completely in the wrong direction. We understand whites may want to live in an equal, colorblind, and post-racial society, but telling us to ignore how systemic prejudice affects our everyday-life just so they can revel in the concept of a united world is wholly unfair. If they’ve never dealt with the issues that Black folks constantly face in our modern Western society, then it’s ignorant to instruct us on how to deal with it. Believe me, we’ve spent our lives trying to figure that out. And many great men and women before us lost their lives trying to fight for exactly that.
The truth is, it’s NOT Black people’s job to “look beyond race.” It’s the job of the society we live in to relinquish its inherent and systemic racism. Asking Black folks to treat everyone like equals is akin to asking rape victims to stop looking so tantalizing to rapists, without simply demanding that men stop raping. Black people have been ready and willing to see beyond color for decades, but racism and privilege can only be defeated by the people who wield the massive control of its existence — and it’s NOT us.
LAB
Originally appeared at Uptown Magazine
Lincoln Anthony Blades blogs daily on his site ThisIsYourConscience.com, he’s an author of the book “You’re Not A Victim, You’re A Volunteer” and a weekly contributor for UPTOWN Magazine. He can be reached via Twitter @lincolnablades and on Facebook at This Is Your Conscience.
I must say, I agree fully. Every time I’ve ever heard “Shut up, everything isn’t about race,” from the perspective of a white person, I’ve always thought “So my people’s history in this country means nothing?” This country was built on our backs and we face daily discrimination, even at the hands of immigrants seen to be more successful than us. People believe that our issues with race and being underprivileged will just disappear and that Black people will somehow move quietly into the recesses of history only to become a footnote in textbooks. We are both – a constant… Read more »
Not only do i agree 110% with your post on this. I find it very very very telling that, since you did post this hours ago, there is only two comments on this. What i think is telling about is the fact that it’s such a goddamn hard slap of reality in the faces of people, even people of my own family, and i am white, who just turn their chins up at truth’s like this, make some ridiculous quick statement, and walk off feeling better about themselves “oh i feel sorry you’re in that situation, but i am good… Read more »
Wait… Does anyone understand that a mistrial is not a verdict? A mistrial is a termination WITHOUT a verdict. Basically 4 verdicts have been rendered. All guilty. This guy is going down for a minimum of 75 years- he’ll be 98 if he ever gets out on parole. 4 for 4 with 1 to go. The system is working so far. Let it work.
If Dunn is found guilty of murder in addition to the 3 counts of attempted murder and 1 count of illegal discharge will the premise of this piece change?
I haven’t seen ANYONE supporting Michael Dunn.
You obviously aren’t on social media such as Twitter and Facebook. Its not hard to find Dunn apologists on the web. They frequently comment on articles on news websites and sites similar to GMP. You don’t have to go looking for them, they find ways to let you know what Dunn did was justified and is the real victim. Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
“I’ve been in pools, there’s been black people in the pool, you know I never saw any white guy like trying to like prevent people from getting into a pool…”
Hahahaha! Hahhahaha bwahahahahah! ha. Ha. Ha.
http://www.drbronsontours.com/bronsonbrockcivilrights.html
I have always felt that the “equal”, “colorblind”, “post-racial” is just an idealistic myopic dream. When I hear people express this view, I want to tell them to visit non-white/non-mixed neighborhoods. Actually see how these people live. I think they would have more sobering views