Having The Hard Discussion: Talking About Race In America

By Leah Matchett on December 8, 2014

Source: http://www.occupy.com/article/could-civil-rights-movement-have-happened-todays-militarized-police-state

With recent events in Ferguson, Missouri and the death by chokehold of Eric Garner in New York, race has once again come to the forefront of America’s conscience. More accurately race has come into the forefront of white America’s conscience. For black Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americas and other people of color living in our society today, race has never ceased to be an issue. They face it everyday in stores, on the streets and in the hands of a police officer.

I’m a 20-year-old white American girl. Police have never made me feel anything but safe and secure. I was raised in the middle class to respect a system that worked for me. The problem is that that same system isn’t working for everyone. What seems to white America as a sudden outbreak of race based violence is in fact part of a longer history of oppression. The difference is that now people are speaking out about the reality of the situation. And they’re pissed.

We have seen a huge upsurge in public protests across the nation over the last several weeks. A generation that has often been referred to as selfish and complacent is stepping up to demand justice, to reaffirm that black lives matter.

And yet, many people don’t want to talk about race in America today. We’ve all heard it on the news- that Eric Garner was obese, or that Michael Brown may have robbed a convenience store. In many cases, the media, instead of dealing with the issue of how it is that so many unarmed black teenagers are shot, choked or killed by white police officers, instead of asking what is it about our society that makes it so that a man who killed a teenager ends up a millionaire, instead of critically examining the protests that erupted in solidarity with these men and their cases, demanding a discussion on race in America today, instead, in short, of doing their job to inform a voting populace, the media has, in many cases, avoided the issue all together.

People in America today aren’t willing to have hard discussions. We are wedded to ideas of comfort and politeness. After a school shooting we are told it is not the time to talk about gun control. After we watch a video of a young black man being choked to death, we are told it is not the time to talk about police brutality. After enormous protests erupt in solidarity with this man, we are told that they are riots, the perpetrators thugs and it is not the time to talk about race. But when is the time?

We need to start having real discussions, hard discussions, about race in this country. We cannot continue to ignore it as question of loose cigarette laws or black on black crime. You can tell me that we’re living in a post racial society. I’m telling you you’re wrong. The Grand Juries in New York and St Louis are telling you you’re wrong. My black classmates, who face the reality of this everyday in their lives, are telling you you’re wrong. The dead are telling you that you’re wrong.

Sometimes white people in America feel that it is not their place to speak out on issues of race. But the fact is that silence is paramount to agreeing with the status quo. And that is unacceptable. Racism may still be alive in America today, but so is solidarity.  So let’s start having the hard discussions, and demanding more out of our media and politicians. We can stand together, we can march together, all the way to Washington if need be.

Sources:

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Eric-Garner-Chokehold-Police-Custody-Cause-of-Death-Staten-Island-Medical-Examiner-269396151.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/05/police-chokehold-eric-garner_n_6277790.html

http://www.theroot.com/photos/2013/06/unarmed_black_men_shot_by_police_20_sad_stories.html

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