The lynching of George Floyd is a milestone turning point for America. Where it turns nobody knows, but with a resounding noise the country, if not the world, has been heard saying enough of America’s racism.
Black marches, riots, protests have occurred worldwide, some violent, some not, but all determined to say, in essence, enough and I am tired.
And just when you think it’s enough, Rayshard Brooks, a young Black man in Atlanta, dies from being shot in the back twice by another white police officer. His crime was that he resisted arrest, he fought back, and he ran.
In the meantime, in Palmdale, California, the body of a Black man, 24-year-old Robert Fuller, was found hanging from a tree in the public square across from City Hall. It was called a suicide.
A few days earlier, the body of another Black man, 38-year-old Malcolm Harsch, was found hanging from a tree outside a library in Victorville, California, about 50 miles from Palmdale, That death was labeled as suicide, too, but both cases are now being investigated by authorities as the families object to the notion of suicide.
White America has now heard this cry in a way not heard in previous years. We live in the world of Facebook and the average person on the street can film incidents for the world to see, beating the news media, with the story and pictures unfiltered.
This is the situation with George Floyd, where policeman Derek Chauvin held his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes, 46 seconds and snuffed his life away. A 17-year-old Black woman saw the action and filmed it for the world as she watched in horror. Facebook was the first media to get the uncut, raw details of this tragedy.
Too much. The world exploded in every way from anger, insult, frustration. Three other policemen watched as Floyd cried for his mother, saying he could not breathe. They granted no relief and we watched Floyd’s life snuffed out. It was a lynching before the eyes of the world.
Every Black person relates, no matter your station in life. Every Black person felt Floyd’s pain, from the richest to the poorest. Black men particularly felt the pain, because of the ancestral lynching and stories in Black families that may or may not be told about grandparents or great-grandparents who were lynched not so long ago.
That’s why some of the Black reporters and pundits broke down on TV as they discussed the case of Floyd. It could have been them. We all have the stories of lynchings, rape, abuse, beatings, escapes and even being jailed while innocent.
It goes deep. It’s a pain that white people will never, ever understand, and that is the common thread of Black folk everywhere, which makes us nod to each other in public places to unfamiliar faces. We acknowledge each other as Black.
George Floyd woke white people. His horrible death was visible and real. Whites recognized racism in its pure form, which Black people know and feel daily, from the celebrity to the commoner.
As the story was being told, we saw a CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez arrested (with his media crew) while on-air covering the story in real time. He could be seen holding his CNN credentials and identifying himself as a reporter. Is that enough racism for you?
So, there are calls from white friends saying and asking, I feel so bad, what do I do? It is time for cultural changes to eradicate racism. At best we have managed racism, but we have not put forth methods to eradicate America’s original sin. This is a white problem that requires full attention and all hands on deck.
As a white person you might say, “I was not a slave owner.” But your great grandparents were, and they benefited from free labor, and you, in turn, enjoy the fruits of our free labor and white privilege to this very day.
The reality is that America is a structured racist society; there are two Americas, one Black and one white. Study after study shows this, and there are volumes written that make the case.
So, white people here are some ideas for you.
1. Call us by our proper name
We are not “people of color”. Call us by our name. We are Black and/or African American. Don’t confuse us. Don’t dilute us. We are unapologetically Black. Stop calling us “minorities.” Minority as a concept is racist. It supposes superiority.
People of color include those who might have brown skin, but are culturally different. Blacks are comprehensive and include people of the diaspora. Stop mixing us with other cultures.
African Americans are specific and usually speak to backgrounds of slavery and southerners. Our name changes about every decade or so, from Negro to colored, Negress, Mulatos, to mixed. WE ARE BLACK. Some white people have a problem in saying the word Black. It’s B-L-A-C-K.
2. Diversity/Inclusion
What is it? What is diversity? What is inclusion? Does it mean one or two? Does it mean integration? Is inclusion at your school, your church, and your work?
If so, how does it work? Is it to make the Blacks who might be in your environment conform to your white standard, or do you appreciate the Black of Blackness, the difference? Is the relationship equitable or dominant or minor?
I attended a white high school. By today’s standards it would have been labeled as inclusive or diverse. It was not.
There were three Blacks in my class. When I wrote a paper on Black whatever, my grade was low. I was scolded and questioned and often the teacher tried to embarrass me in front of the class with a strong lesson of humiliation as though I had performed incorrectly.
They were not to hear Black stories or Black truth or Black viewpoint. The school was Jones Commercial, now called Jones Academy. The school was named after Black businessman John Jones, who donated the property to the Chicago Public Schools.
Jones was a tailor and real estate proprietor and the first Black Cook County commissioner. My teen thinking was that we should know about the person that our school was named after.
When I wrote my paper on Mr. Jones for my history class, I was challenged. I was right, but it was my first experience finding out that when informing whites about Blacks, you better be damn sure of your subject.
My mother tried to get the teacher dismissed. Black parents still teach their children to be better than, and average does not matter. If the teacher says read three books, you read six. My father told me “A” was the only grade because it was the highest, nothing less than that mattered to him and he meant it.
I didn’t know I was in a competition. What I did know was that I had to bring home top grades, because of parental expectations. Racism could not get in the way or be used as an excuse; just work harder.
3. Shut up and listen
When you talk to Blacks about race issues, listen, rather than dictate or challenge. Our experiences are sometimes drastically different than whites and it can be a real eye opener of drastic differences that are race based.
There can be monumental experiences when white cops stop Black citizens. Too often, it can mean life or death, depending on how you conduct yourself. It is customary to teach young Black children what to do and what not to do when interacting with white policemen. The tips can be lifesaving on urban streets and back southern roads particularly. This is not a time for the macho man.
A popular minister from the South tells the story of how he and his teen friend did not get off the sidewalk when two white men walked their way. The Black teens did not move. When he went home and told the story, his mother immediately began to get him out of town, toward Chicago, that night, because she feared his lynching. This was years ago, but the story still applies.
When football player Colin Kaepernick took a knee rather than stand for the national anthem, white interpretation was that he insulted the flag. The President called him out of his name.
He was kneeling for the brothers on the street being killed by the police. Simple explanation. Listen up. He took a knee for racism and police brutality.
The lessons remain today. Black boys are taught submission. Look down. Have your hands in full view at all times. Ask if you can move before you physically move. Don’t shout. Don’t talk back. Don’t run. Say yes sir. Obey the policeman at all times. The policeman has the gun. Right does not matter.
These are lessons of submission that are still taught for survival purposes, no matter who you are. Who you really are is a Black person and that is the lesson still being learned in 2020.
The policemen who made Congressman Bobby Rush’s office a lounge when looters were robbing the nearby shopping center were racist. They knew where they were and they were disrespectful. Call it out as you see it. Racist.
4. Exploitation
As you, White person, interact with Black people, are you insulting or exploitive? For example, the big box stores like Walgreens, CVS and Wal-Mart have Black haircare products on their shelves for purchase by Black women.
But they insult the customer by locking up the product like its gold at Fort Knox. Since the Floyd lynching, they have suddenly decided to unlock the product. And cosmetic giant Sephora has suddenly decided to carry Black-owned products in their stores.
I have a white wealthy friend who is a landowner and she rents to Blacks, but she is really a slum landlord and exploitive in her interaction. But she buys turkeys and hams for holidays for her tenants.
She tries to follow the political dynamics of candidates, but is upset that the Mayor said she is a Black woman first and then the Mayor. This is the sentiment of the Black women mayors across the country. She misses the point. She asks, why do they say they are Black women? Because they are.
5. Never use the “N” Word
Do not use the N-word under any circumstance. The word, by the way, is not “the N-word”. The word is “Nigger”. It has multiple meanings that are too hard to explain, so forget it, but just don’t use it for any reason. Just saying the “N” takes the sting and meaning out of it. The hip hop generation got this, and they don’t mean it like your ancestors did. Leave it alone.
6. Do not patronize Blacks (The Great White Father Complex)
Besides being sick and tired of white policemen and mistreatment that is protected by the justice system, we are also tired of being patronized. How many studies of inequality can there be? The University of Chicago has a study on every aspect of Blackness known to mankind.
Where is the solution? How does the eradication come about? Remember The Kerner Report? It was the finding of a special commission appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to determine the reasons for the 1968 race riots in Detroit, Newark and other cities, and other riots in the 1960s, and to provide recommendations for the future.
The Kerner Report was one of the best studies ever on the two American societies, yet after the report, Kerner’s career was in ruins.
This was a problem for former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel; who just knew that he knew what was best for Blacks in every instance. His conversations lectured rather than provoked dialogue exchanges.
He ruled the city because he was the smartest, which translated to being patronizing beyond the norm. He was the only smart one and he knew all there was to know because his mother had marched with Dr. King a few times. He mishandled the Black community because he knew all there was to know, as he acted with forward thinking, but would not listen to Black voices.
I saw Rahm once speak to a group of Black businesspeople and he sounded like a plantation owner. He mishandled the Laquan McDonald case and it ended his political career. His racism was branded.
7. White fear
White people need to deal with their fear of Black people. A very definite part of George Floyd’s death was due to his size. White men buckle sometimes when they are in the presence of tall, large, bulky Black men. They seem overwhelmed. Physique matters.
8. Who is in charge?
I watched the Michael Jordan story, The Last Dance, and while I’m not a sports fan, it was captivating. But one of the things I noticed is that while the Black basketball players played their superb game, it was a short, chubby white male who called the shots with a superiority attitude over the guys.
9. The Press
The white press needs to be taken to task. Suddenly, as the case of George Floyd is discussed, many white TV broadcasters really don’t understand the history, the in-depth feelings involved.
They want to engage in happy talk about how you felt when you looked at the tape or where are we. Stop the dumb questions and let’s have the real conversation on race.
Secondly get some people on air, Black people, who can speak to the subject who have been working on equality issues for years. The professor with the new book is great, but those who have been in the trenches are better. And does the celebrity really have something to say, something real that is?
Black Lives Matter and so does seniority and work. Talk solutions. The press is part of the problem because they paint the picture with stereotypes and too often the Black intellectual and historian is absent. Stop cleaning and clearing Black news.
Provide more programming other than the buffoonery, the bad guy, and the guy who has become the first Black bachelor. Does it matter?
Stop labeling the Black Civil Rights people as race baiters, when they put their lives on the line daily fighting for social justice.
The Chicago Sun-Times just announced that they would be capitalizing the “B” in Black as they report the news from now on; make it uppercase. I personally argued that point with major news organizations on why that was necessary and correct more than 30 years ago.
N’DIGO published an editorial on that 30 years ago as we launched in 1989. Glad the Chicago Sun-Times has caught up with the Black press. Thank you very much for your respect.
Put the conversation in context so as to be able to understand the full measure of it. As Barack Obama was running for president, the white press took the scholarly, brilliant Rev. Jeremiah Wright out of context and hurt his image because he spoke a truth that whites did not understand or acknowledge.
His honesty was too much and rather than understand his point, they defamed him. He was having an honest conversation with his congregation and the media highlighted his sermon on “damn America” rather than “the audacity of hope” that inspired a president.
The Black press at this time has an obligation to use its voice and those Blacks in the white press have an obligation to speak an uncompromising truth.
10. What do you belong to?
What organizations do you belong to? What do you donate to? The eradication of racism can be aided with money, but not totally. White attitudes need to change. It is great to see white and Black youth marching together, but then if you go back home to your nests, so what?
Mix and mingle for real. Recognize your stereotypes and fears and deal with them. Where do you live and where do you work? Do you do business with Black businesses? Do you hire Blacks in full capacity? Are Blacks on your board?
Are Blacks at your school? Have a Black experience. Are you willing to give up your white privilege? It means different things to different people.
If Black lives matter, then make Black lives count. It’s more than a slogan.
Dr. King’s Message To White Liberals
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The white liberal must rid himself of the notion that there can be a tensionless transition from the old order of injustice to the new order of justice. The Negro has not gained a single right in America without persistent pressure and agitation.
“Nonviolent coercion always brings tension to the surface. This tension, however, must not be seen as destructive. There is a kind of tension that is both healthy and necessary for growth. Society needs nonviolent gadflies to bring its tensions into the open and force its citizens to confront the ugliness of their prejudices and the tragedy of their racism.
“It is important for the liberal to see that the oppressed person who agitates for his rights is not the creator of tension. He merely brings out the hidden tension that is already alive.
“Last summer when we had our open housing marches in Chicago, many of our white liberal friends cried out in horror and dismay: ‘You are creating hatred and hostility in the white communities in which you are marching, you are only developing a white backlash.’
“I could never understand that logic. They failed to realize that the hatred and the hostilities were already latently or subconsciously present. Our marches merely brought them to the surface. The white liberal must escalate his support for racial justice rather than de-escalate it. The need for commitment is greater today than ever.”
So, good luck, white people. The world has changed. Black folk are unapologetic at this point and in multiple ways the knee comes off the neck because you remove it, or it is removed for you.
Black people are fighting back. Black people are angry and sick and tired of America’s bullshit. The Revolution is on Facebook.
