Hi Karen.
We see you standing there with your cell phone in hand contemplating whether you should call 911 as black, brown and white people flood the streets of your city demanding justice.
You’re thinking “how dare they organize protests for that man.”
It does not matter to you that most of the assemblies have been peaceful, “that man” doesn’t deserve this type of notoriety. He was an ex-con. He was a thief. He had been arrested and sentenced for home invasion and aggravated assault. He once pointed a loaded gun at the belly of a pregnant woman during a robbery. He was a drug user.
It’s all true. “That man” was far from a saint but “that man” was a father, a son, a brother and a friend. He had dreams of owning a restaurant. He could have played for the NBA like his good childhood friend and “twin” former NBA player Stephen Jackson. He worked security protecting patrons at a local restaurant. He was enjoying the change of scenery from Houston to Minneapolis. Having paid his dues and been held accountable for his previous infractions, he was deserving of a fresh start. He could have been fully rehabilitated.
He may not have even known that the $20 bill used to purchase cigarettes was a counterfeit.
A martyr is defined as a person who is killed because of a belief or a cause. History has expanded the criteria for martyrdom. Paul the Apostle. Abolitionist John Brown. Patriot Nathan Hale. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Jesus Christ. Unarmed black men (and women) who dare think that they can enjoy the constitutional liberties and peace that have been promised to all American citizens. Yes, put them on the growing list of martyrs.
It is a sad tale that has been played out since slavery. Dehumanize black males to the point that the world is desensitized to their very humanity. Their attempts to enjoy mundane activities such as birdwatching and barbecuing are met with frantic, misguided calls to law enforcement. Some of these calls are brushed off as the frivolities that they are, but there have been plenty of instances where black men have been tortured and lynched based on false reports.
“You don’t have to live next to me. Just give me my equality.” Nina Simone said it best in 1964. The peaceful protests are not a celebration of lawlessness, but rather a push for equal application of the existing laws. They are a cry for the world to see black and brown people as humans deserving of due process, fairness and equal justice.
So now that we have your attention, Karen, put the phone down. If you don’t want to join the peaceful protests, that’s fine. We get it. No one should be forced to do anything that makes them uncomfortable. Besides, it may take some time to undo the cultural misperceptions and stereotypes you have so easily embraced over the years. No rush.
While you work towards being more open-minded and enlightened about people who don’t look like you, take a look at the face of racial injustice in the vein of fictional attorney Jake Brigance as portrayed by Matthew McConaughey in A Time to Kill.
Close your eyes. Can you see the Scottsboro Boys? Can you see Emmitt Till? Can you see Breonna Taylor? Can you see Eric Garner? Can you see George Floyd? Picture them all…..now imagine they are white.
Sincerely,
“That Man”
-Sojourner Justice
