Black Lives Matter

I got to say that I woke up this morning and thought ‘boy, I’m glad I don’t live in Minnesota right now.’ Another shooting of a young black man, a young father, stopped because his license plate was expired. Another death of a black man at the hands of a police officer. It happened just a few miles away from where the trial of a white police officer accused of murder of a black man is going on right now.

I can feel the tenseness of the situation from states away. I see the social media posts popping up again as people take sides, some for the police and some for the black men. I saw one earlier today saying why don’t black people just obey the laws? Honor the police? Then nothing bad will happen to them. ( As if it’s their fault. )

If only that was true.

It is for me – and for the person who posted earlier. It is true that when a white man, or a white woman like me, gets pulled over and stopped by the police almost never does it turn into a fatal encounter. Whites do not fear police. Even if we whites have done something wrong and illegal, we know that the officer may slap us with a fine – and then we are sent happily along our way. It’s more embarrassing than anything to be stopped. Right? It’s not fearful. My white friends: has that exact thing happened to you? Maybe you were speeding, or ran a red light? Maybe you were driving with an expired license plate. You never feared that the officer would not treat you with respect. You didn’t worry that the wrong thing said, or a wrong move, might elevate the situation and a gun could get drawn.

African Americans have never been able to know that feeling. It was only 5 decades ago that blacks were treated less than human in America, and they were talked down to, threatened, and YES were lynched. Crosses burned in their yards. their homes and places of worship were bombed. They were not given equal treatment anywhere – in stores, in schools, in businesses. Our country had legal segregation and Jim Crow laws up until 1964. I was 8 years old in 1964. I was a little white girl in surburbia and I didn’t have a clue to what was happening. I lived a sheltered life. I did not know of the horrors happening during the 60’s in my own country.

But African Americans certainly knew – and they still remember. Centuries of enslavement, and discrimination, and unbelievably horrible treatment at the hands of white bigots – that doesn’t go away quickly. Those stories were real. Many grandparents lived through it.

To expect a black person today to not become nervous for what we consider a simple traffic stop is just not real. To expect them to remain calm is not fair. And, unfortunately, we keep seeing case after case of police treating them differently. It is still happening. Cellphones are showing us now. It’s scary out there if you are a black young man. Some say it is worse now than it was ten years ago. Our countries’ race divisions are in the open again.

It’s got to stop. And, it won’t until white people get involved. Too many whites think it’s not their problem, so they stay quiet. But – it IS their problem. Because, until…

Black lives matter

No life has equal worth. ALL lives matter. All lives deserve respect, and love.

Last summer the movement took hold, and then people started misusing the BLM label. Some blamed them for violence when they were not the responsible ones. BLM got turned around and was made to represent a radical group – but IT WAS NOT – and it IS not. It was so upsetting to see a positive thing get turned around…. and why did it? Because there are people out there who do not want black lives to matter – equally.

Black Lives Matter means that every black person today must get the same and equal respect, and treatment, as every other person – as any other color. Wherever they are, At a traffic stop. Walking down the street. Going for a run. Sleeping in their own bed.

Until enough of us white people agree that black lives matter there will not be a fair system in this country. A fair policing system and a fair judicial system in our country. Equality in schools, and in where to live, and in job choices and pay. Some secretly want the inequalities to continue. So – Nothing will get better until white people stand up against what is happening – even against other white people. Staying quiet is allowing it continue. White people have to look beyond themselves, have some empathy, see the injustice, feel the pain of lost loved ones. We need to be advocates for black lives. It’s us – we are the ones who have to change.

Because…

Can you say it?

Black lives matter.