There are many people who are condemning the protesters in Baltimore for their behavior, citing violent outbursts with police, looting, and destruction of private and commercial property. The criticism seems reasonable, right? Well... let's look at the BIG picture.
This all started in Baltimore due to unanswered questions of how a 25 year old Black man named Freddie Gray died in police custody after being arrested for possession of a switchblade. Police disarmed him and placed him under arrest. The arrest was, per Officer Garrett Miller of the Baltimore PD, "without force or incident". However, within one hour of his arrest, Mr. Gray was in the hospital, in a coma, with 3 broken vertebrae, a crushed larynx, and a spinal code that was 80% severed at the neck. Within a week, Mr. Gray succumbed to his injuries and died.
Police have admitted that there was a failure on at least 3 occasions to get Mr. Gray medical attention. 3 chances. In less than an hour. Yet there is still no explanation from police, when the arrest was without force and without incident, how this man sustained life-ending injuries.
OK so fast forward to events as they are unraveling. Mr. Gray's family has been joined by the community to protest and demand answers and justice. Though the protests started out mostly peaceful, there has been a spattering of confrontations between the police and protesters, some looting, and some property destruction. Today, the violence has escalated. People.... mostly white folks... have jumped on these protesters, condemning them for their violence. They conveniently declare that ALL lives matter... Black, White, and Blue (police)... all. Though it should be noted that most of these folks have never once spoken up about the Black and Brown lives lost at the hands of police, and how those lives mattered. But I digress.
These same people thump their chests and declare their love for America, and how these protesters are turning our great country into a nation "no better than the Middle East". Really? Let's consider this.
How exactly was this country founded? Ah yes... the British sent over some settlers to STEAL the land from Native Americans and establish the 13 colonies for the British Empire. When the colonists got tired of taxation without representation, they revolted. So after slaughtering the Native Americans, stealing and raping their lands, we fought for independence from Britain. HOORAY! Freedom! And in our Declaration of Independence, we declared that ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL!
Well... not ALL men. Certainly not men that weren't White. Certainly not those pesky Native Americans, and absolutely not Black men! Black men, and women, and children, were property. Owned, just like a dress or a horse or furniture or any other inanimate object. But not only were they non-human property, they were slaves. I can't even begin to describe what slave life was like. Films like Roots, 12 Years a Slave, Glory, Amistad... they gave a glimpse into the life, but it was so much worse than it could ever be portrayed. The violence that was a common part of their lives... whippings, rape, lynching, being attacked and ripped apart by dogs, the fights to the death between Black men for the entertainment of the slave owners... the list of violent assaults goes on and on.
And, Lord we were not ready or willing to give up that ownership and domination over Black lives. We declared war on ourselves in order to try to hang onto that ownership. Families torn apart, a country that is still, to this day, split over this issue. Down south, they still fly that Confederate Flag. To this day, men and women all over the nation are hunted and killed for no reason other than the color of their skin. Emmitt Till, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X... Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant, Tamir Rice, Akai Gurley, Kajieme Powell, Ezell Ford, Eric Garner, Yvette Smith, Jordan Baker, Miriam Carey, Jonathan Ferrell, Kimani Gray, Rekia Boyd. I could go on and on and on, but I think you get my point.
So, even after the Civil War, when slaves were freed, they still weren't really free. Every step forward was a struggle. The Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow laws, segregation. Every single right that Blacks "got" was a long, hard, bloody battle. For every Medgar Evers or Martin Luther King Jr. that famously lost their lives, there are dozens... maybe even hundreds of nameless, faceless men and women who lost their lives for the Cause. And despite all the struggles, the sit-ins, the marches, the blood and sweat and tears, the deaths that were in the name of the Cause, the Supreme Court of the United States has repealed important pieces of the Voting Rights Act. We are going backwards, my friends. Backwards.
So let's come back to what's happening in Baltimore right now. Mr. Gray is the latest in a long line of Black and Brown lives lost at the hands of "law enforcement" where there is no justice. Sure the police department is investigating itself. During the investigation, all officers involved are on paid leave. I am sure we all know what's going to happen. These naughty cops should have gotten Mr. Gray to the hospital sooner, but there was "no" wrongdoing outside of that. There were "no" improprieties in how Mr. Gray got those broken vertebrae or severed spine. They "just happened" and probably will somehow be found to have been self-inflicted.
I pose the following questions to every person condemning the protesters: what if police or people protected by police, for hundreds of years, had killed your friends, family members, people who looked like you and never had to answer for it. Few indictments, fewer convictions. Peacefully assembling, protesting, demanding accountability and justice for a young man who suffered a horrific, painful death. Being met by those same killer police armed to the hilt and in riot gear. Peace met with force. Is it really so surprising that people have reached the breaking point? I do not condone the violence.... but I do understand.
As for the shock and horror of what "these protesters" are turning the country into. My God, how incredibly stupid are we? We are not the land of the free or the home of the brave. We are the land of capitalism and the home of violence. We were founded on violence. The land was stolen from Native Americans and was built on the backs of slaves. We release our armed forces not because there are grave wrongs being perpetrated against the peoples of other nations, but because we have some vested interest, be it placing a puppet government that we can control from afar, or oil, or some other natural resource. We are not the Righter of Wrongs. We are greed. IF we as a nation were so worried about what was right and wrong, we wouldn't have people living on the streets, digging through dumpsters for food, sleeping on grates in the dead of winter trying not to freeze to death. We certainly wouldn't allow our Veterans, who fought for this country, to be relegated to such circumstances.
No, we are so blindly and stupidly "patriotic". Whatever we do is right. The rest of the world is wrong. Those who use terrorism to fight the American Ideals are evil. We are righteous. Ok, so civilian lives are lost "over there". After so many hundreds of years of being programmed to hate us, there's really no hope for them anyway. We're actually doing them a favor by killing them. Right?
So we torture people who we think could be terrorists. We're saving American lives so it's ok. Right? We are a nation of patriots who live by the credo of "Do what we say, not what we do" and "The rules don't apply to us".
Those terrorists "over there" are driven by hate. Why can't they be more like us? We're so perfect! Except, you know, we still don't see Black people as being equal, some of us don't see them as human at all. We hate all those gays who are trying to ruin our family values by wanting equal recognition of their love. Those people want to marry and have families? Hell no! And we don't really see women as equals either. Really, the world is all about White men and protecting their power and privilege. If everyone else would just recognize and accept that, everything would be perfect! Right? Can we really be so ignorant?
So, at the end of it all, I believe in personal choice and freedoms. Though I cannot understand anyone who takes the position that protesters across the country who assemble in peace are the cause of the shitstorm that is raging across this country, I believe they have the right to hold that opinion. But please do not defend your position by citing the moral high ground of our nation or the police force, because that just simply doesn't exist. OWN your racism and your own personal privilege. If you can't, well, that should speak volumes to you. It certainly does to me.
