Dangling equity and equality in front of us does not make you superior. Quite the opposite, it makes you appear weaker and fearful. Are you thinking, "if they can accomplish this much after this many centuries of systemic oppression, what on earth will they achieve if we give them real, unconditional, untethered equality?"
We know this to be true because each and every time our ancestors showed America what the Black men and women could do for ourselves, your ancestors came in and burned it down. Seneca Village, New York in 1857. Wilmington, North Carolina in 1898. East St. Louis, Illinois in 1917. The Red Summer of 1919. Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921. Rosewood, Florida in 1923. The list goes on and on well into the 20th century. Atrocities not covered in your whitewashed history books.
To be clear, when we march for equal rights, we don't want you to give us anything. What we would actually prefer is for your to stop taking things from us.
1. Stop taking away our constitutional rights. Though our ancestors were brought here as immigrants - perhaps even illegal by today's definition - are we not Americans by the constitutional definition? Are we not protected under that same piece of paper? We are expected to stand and "respect" that red, white, and blue piece of fabric, but that seems hypocritical if we aren't also fully protected under that piece of paper.
2. Stop trying to take our dignity by attempting to criminalize our right to protest. We are peaceful until provoked.
A vast majority of the looting that has taken place in the past weeks has not been instigated by the peaceful protesters. Yet, that is the part you choose to focus on. The false part. Do you think that by likening us to savages or animals our message is less clear, less important?
3. Stop taking our ideas without properly compensating us. Our culture has always been considered as less than to you until you find a way to make a dollar off of it. Give credit - and monetary compensation - where it is due. We're in the internet age now, it's quite easy to prove when you steal someone's idea or dance.
4. Stop taking our voices and our experiences and trying to minimize them to make yourself feel better.
No, you didn't personally own slaves. And maybe no one in your family ever owned slaves. But I am a descendent of slaves, and my life's experiences have been shaped by the people who raised me. People who were, and are, descendents of slaves. People who were poor sharecroppers taken advantage of by plantation owners who were unkind, unfair, and racist. People who were directly affected by wrongful public school integration practices. People who had extremely limited opportunities for housing, jobs, and education based solely on the color of their skin.
Those experiences shape me and my child. Being called a n*gger constantly by racist white kids throughout elementary and junior high school affects me to this day. Because you have not experienced racism, as a white person, does not mean that it does not exist even in 2020.
5. Stop taking jobs that we are "overqualified" for and giving them to your not-at-all qualified relatives and college buddies. Affirmative Action for Black people is a myth!
With 10 years of experience in my field, a masters degree, and over 10 years of military service, I was passed over for a job in favor of a fresh out of college white male at a company that had zero Black or minority employees. That's happened to me three times that I am aware of due to the fact that I kept in touch with people from those organizations. How many times has it happened that I'm not aware of? Who knows?
6. Stop taking away our right to be protected and served by weaponizing the police against us.
We are policed enough by the police, by our employers, by the stores we financially support, and now by the self-appointed white militia. If you have a problem with a Black person, try approaching them respectfully - not with an attitude of authority and superiority, because you probably have neither. And be willing to take responsibility for your own part in the dispute. Again, we are peaceful until provoked. Your fear for your life is unwarranted. You have the police to protect you!
7. Stop taking away our right to express our feelings by negatively labeling us. Why is it that when my white friends aggressively defend their children at school or in public, they are called "Mama Bears," but when I do the same thing, I'm an "angry Black woman"? Is my child not deserving of that same fierce maternal protection?
8. Stop taking our voices by voter suppression. You are clearly afraid of our power at the polls. Ask Roy Moore about that. It also shows when Kentucky makes one polling station available for 600,000 people in a predominantly Black voting district. You are not concerned about the voices of the people unless they echo your own.
9. Stop trying to pit us against each other. There is strength in numbers. That is what you fear the most.
While white people will never become the minority group in this country, rich, white men are already the minority. And as long as they can convince the poor folk to fight amongst themselves, they can protect their wealth and their power that they surely aren't sharing with you either poor white folks.
One day though, the poor white man will open his eyes and realize that his enemy is not the Black people and other minorities, it's the rich. When that day comes, only then will we be on our way to making this country great. Because from where I'm descended, it's never been great.
Sincerely,
Reasonably Happy Gal
p.s. In the argument over which political party started the KKK, the answer is: It was white people. It's still white people. That's all that really matters. Political parties are also a myth.
