Rest in peace and power to George Floyd, the unarmed black man in Minneapolis who was suffocated to death by a policeman pressing his knee into his neck. Unnecessarily. Being very aware of the fact that this man could not breathe. This thing sickens me and I am actually tearing up as I write it. It took me hours to gather the strength to watch the video, and when I did I could not even watch the entire thing. I felt sick. I felt so much pain for that man. But what the video really reminded me of is the nonchalance that white people tend to show towards black people and issues of black justice. I am really tired of seeing this both through the media and experiencing it in my every-day life too, so it’s time to speak up.
There is a very popular trend that I see within this system called ‘whiteness’. It is a trend of overall nonchalance, lack of concern or failure to adequately care about issues that are frequently caused by people of their demographic towards people that are not of their demographic. It always happens. A black man dies in a situation of evident injustice and what response do I see from white people? Nothing. Crickets. I can count on ONE hand how many such responses I might see from a select few, of which I am grateful (for them doing something that should not have to be applauded), but the majority? Crickets.
I think it’s disgusting. I notice it all the time. A year ago, while I was involved in society work in my university, there was a climate change march happening on the 20th of September. I saw the rage expressed by members of the student society council towards people perpetuating climate change. I also, interestingly, saw the rage expressed by these members towards people who failed to participate in this march. They thought it to be irresponsible, apathetic and shameful. I found this interesting, because a few months prior to that there was a march occurring in Dublin for the Sudanese Revolution. And I did not see even an ounce of care expressed by the majority of these people – not even towards the march, but concerning the revolution in general. There was nobody being denounced regarding that though. Interesting.
I see these attitudes in every-day life too. I often have discussions with people from other minorities who experience this same thing. From not showing any regard towards a person of colour who steps into the room, but displaying enthusiasm when somebody who is not of colour does. I see it in the alienation of minorities. I hear it in the remarks about lecturers that are not white. I see it in the odd way that minorities are treated by people their very own age. The same people that claim to be an enlightened generation who seeks for change. I am not saying that all white people act like this, but a vast majority do. And it is upsetting.
I believe that when people think of racism, they imagine it to mean the shooting of an innocent black life, or the open verbal discriminatory terms used towards a black person. But they never think about the things that lead up to that. I can assure you that the policeman who murdered George Floyd had the boldness to carry out such a crime because he was used to doing it his whole life through every-day interactions. I can assure you that any injustice shown towards black people by whites is fueled by a long history of nonchalant attitudes expressed in such people’s lives. And it’s never called out because this isn’t the kind of racism the news reports about. But I guarantee you that this is the kind of racism that leads to the more overt discrimination shown in news reports.
Covert racism is real and until this is addressed and micro-analysed by society, it will continue. And it will thus continue to embolden people to act in more violently racist ways. Racism is never as far from you as you may think. The dehumanization of black lives does not happen by waking up one day and deciding you hate black people. It happens through a pattern of seeing that its okay to treat black people as less than yourself, because everybody else seems to do it. It becomes so normal that you do not even notice it anymore. And this is just so so dangerous.
So how can you cause a change, then? Like this: Start caring. It’s very simple.
When you see a person of colour being treated differently to how your fellow white counterparts would be treated in the same situation, do something about it. Speak to your friends and tell them that you need to make more of an effort to prevent covert racism from being a natural part of your lives. Be intentionally inclusive, and be genuine about it. When you see an issue of social injustice, spread awareness about it in the same way you paraded about climate change. Stop only caring about issues that have a direct impact on your life. Stop being so damn selfish. This isn’t just towards black people, but any minority that you see are suffering. Nobody is asking you to become an activist, we are just asking you to care. Plain and simple. The more things you sweep under the carpet and act like they don’t exist, the more responsible you become for these things continuing. Your silence is deadly. Your passivity is even more deadly. Remember this:
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. “
Desmond Tutu
Shalom.