History Pt. 2 Racism & the "Right Now"

I want to make sure I acknowledge those who take activism seriously.  I always appreciate passionate individuals who live fighting for what they believe the world should be.  I often wonder because most activist focus on things they want to change, if they get caught up in all that is wrong and have a hard time acknowledging how far we have come?  I don't believe acknowledging progress takes away from the cause, but I think acknowledging progress allows you to be able to take pride in the impact of your work.  I see stories every day of people doing great things for other people (regardless of race), but sometimes we get caught in generalizing behavior that it forces us to look at the world in the wrong way.

So ask yourself the following question: Is every "white" person in the US racist?

For me it is all about perception.  We are individuals.  PERIOD.  We generalize behavior but we can not say with extreme certainty that everyone of a certain race is racist.   My ancestors paved the way for forward thinking, acceptance and love in spite of transgression and discrimination and  showed unbreakable strength, courage and determination.  White ancestors proved to be an example of what NOT to believe or how not to treat others in the name of God.   Essentially lessons of what NOT to do.  While my ancestors were an example of who to be in spite of oppression.  I walk proud knowing how far we have come.  I am sure some of my "white" peers do the same.  Those who have no motivation to hate or oppress because of the simple fact that it is morally wrong.  I walk around assuming everyone is good, until they prove otherwise.  Call me naive all day, but I don't believe in assuming the worst of people until they do something to make believe otherwise or discernment kicks in.  I do believe that some people get so focused on their goal and the passion of fighting for injustice, that its quite often all they see.  And unfortunately negative views are often misconstrued.

There have been several incidents in the news publicized to get us focused on the abuse of power of police officers.  And I am one who believes there are definitely issues with officers abuse of power, my concern, however, is that officers' abuse of power has been going on for years, yet we are seeking justice for it now...  What happened to all the other individuals who died at the hands of injustice that were not publicized for us?  What happened to all of those who died at the hands of unjust law/officers right in front of us?  We are active now though...  We are pro CHANGE now, but what's the motivation?  Is it really that we have had enough?  If that is the case shouldn't we have had enough of killing one another?

CHANGE and FIGHT should have started from the beginning.  No one ever deserves to die unjustly.  Had we been actively watching these stories in the media, gathering data by tracking the statistics and taking action by advocating for all families involved and/or using each situations as a foundation of change (one state at a time), we would be more optimistic.  The future wouldn't seem so dim.

While I advocate for the families of those individuals we have loss due to this type of violence and I support the movement of "all lives" matter (which encompasses "black lives"), I can not understand why all of a sudden the news decision to feature repeatedly feature these stories acts as a motivator.  We should have already been motivated to take action/take a stand on this issue.  While it can be argued that the media may have had it's own agenda, I would like to think they were trying to get an organic view of the true frustration of the families and people impacted by injustice.

So when all is said and done and (thinking forward) when action is taken to revamp the assessment of officers and deputies of the law, what next issue will we be presented?  What other "right now" cause will gain our interest?  Will racism still be as prominent?  Nothing is certain, but I do believe that if we gave self-awareness and accountability the same consideration, attention and action as we do these "right now" causes, the world just may be a better place.

History Pt.1 -Racism & the "Right Now"

I spent my early years trying to find my purpose as most.  I wanted to know what my place was on this earth.  I wanted to determine how I would impact the individuals I came in contract with.  I wanted to know how I could make the world better.  As a child my world view was distorted.  My perception of life was what was provided to me via cultural norms, history lessons and the state of the current economy.  And although as a student I had no interest in history, that never meant I didn't pay attention to it.  How I wanted to view the world never depended on what was, for me it was always about what is and what will be.  I hoped to impact what will be.

As an adult I shifted my view, not only was my perception formed by my cultural norms, religious beliefs, moral, values, etc., but my perception of the world is too heavily impacted by how others see it.  Because I believe in order for me to impact change appropriately I have to understand how and why the world is viewed as it is.  After spending sometime in another country I came to find that the world is as great or as miserable as we see it.  While living overseas I spent time in a country which is not as  "racially specific/classified" as the US.  The first thing I appreciated was that I was labeled an American, not African-American.  For as long as I can remember I was born in America, with decent of African heritage but so far removed (well over 6 generations) that I saw myself as more of an American than anything.  Now that is not to say that I did not want to learn about or disown my roots, that is not what I am saying at all, but I am an American right?  I always questioned why classification had to be further specified in the US. I found that in the US we subcategorize ourselves until we cannot anymore.  Whether race, socioeconomic class, religion etc.  While I understand the statistical need for this, I do believe that this further perpetuates the idea of racism.

As a child I learned of racism, as an African American youth I watched Roots (and other movies amongst reading and researching the history of slavery and injustice), and I understood the severity of how it was to live during that time.  I admire my ancestors and predecessors for their courage and strength during those times.  As difficult as it was to exist in those times, I like to think (as an adult), that I would not allow all of those instances to taint my view of the world as I know it today.  Never to forget how far the world or African-American people have come as a whole, but to view the world for its progress and to hope to impact more positive change.  I saw it possible when I lived overseas.  People loving one another and coexisting as one race.  Not only had I never experienced it, but before I had experienced it I never considered it could be possible.

What is most prevalent now is how we see the world and what we want to make of it.  I believe we are right now people (generally speaking).  We are people who act on, fight for, get emotionally involved in issues of "right now".  What do I consider a "right now" cause?  Well when I speak of a "right now" cause I am referring to those issues, occurrences and/or ideals that have been publicized to evoke a mass emotional response.  The media provides every source of current events and news in the world.  Yet we somehow do not see the contradiction.  The media informs the people of the news, but unless you are conscious of the manipulative nature of the press/news you may not consider the idea that the news shapes your perception/or view of said news.  The media plays on the response of the people watching it (to provoke an emotional response), to yield to more ratings to signify "news worthy" press.  Before the cause was presented via media outlets, did you know what was happening?  Did it concern you what injustice was occurring around the world?  Odds are you had no idea, because it was something that did not interrupt your everyday routine or impact you personally.  But now that you know you feel emotionally empowered to provoke change.  But what happens when it is no longer newsworthy?  We forget and go on to the next "right now" cause.  Its a never ending cycle.

Unfortunately we are not proactive people.  We address things as they are presented to us.  We do not go out and make the difference we want to seek because before it became newsworthy it was not an issue for us.  We assume everything is ok until we believe there is "proof" that it is not.  Or we assume the absolute worst, until there is proof it is not.  I despise the bandwagon causes.  But hey we are in a very free country.  A country we fail to understand how to live in.  A country we fail to exist in peacefully.  While I do believe that injustice and racism is prevalent today, I too believe that how we view the world contributes to the extent of how we view injustice and/or racism.

In efforts to not make this post one million words, I will take a pause and come back to this topic.  I will discuss the views of African Americans and other world leaders whose causes were to fight for justice for all, regardless to race, creed, color, religion, etc.  I can only hope that one day their ideals will be actualized and not just misinterpreted and/or misused to support "right now" causes.