George Floyd should be alive. And the officers who killed him behind bars. But he’s not + they aren’t.

We don't live in a color blind society. Never have, never will. To act, comport oneself or believe such is to be a part of the deadly racism that plagues + threatens + erodes…

Racism senselessly cuts short + destroys lives of black people + all people every day. As a white woman, I've undoubtedly benefitted from systems of white supremacy since I was born, even before. And black people die bc of them, like George Lloyd yesterday. Who now? Who tomorrow?

Today, #GeorgeFloyd is trending. He was killed on Monday evening in Minneapolis — when a police officer kneeled on his neck for multiple minutes without reprieve. While pinned to the ground and visibly struggling, he repeated “I can’t breathe” in great physical distress…

Those are the same words Eric Garner uttered before he died at the hands of NYPD, in broad daylight with cars + ppl. A clip went viral, as witnesses repeatedly begged officers to get off the unarmed man who lay motionless, unconscious, before being loaded on a stretcher + dying.

Four Minneapolis police officers have now been fired. That’s a start, sure. But they must now be charged, arrested and convicted. So too must the system that allows, perpetuates and promotes this be dismantled.

Yesterday, #AmyCooper was trending — the white woman in Central Park (in New York City, not the south!) who called the cops when a man (a birdwatcher!) simply asked her to follow the rules and put a leash on her dog. Because the man was black.

Amy Cooper felt safe calling the police (privilege), lied outright to 911 (without consequence), claiming there was an "African-American man threatening my life” (baseless) — gross displays of overt racism which endangered Christian Cooper’s life.

Christian Cooper could easily be that hashtag, the next dead body or man imprisoned for, what, “birding while black." She’s since been fired too. But only bc he filmed her, got out of the way before further conflict or violence + the clip his sister posted on Twitter went viral.

Amy Cooper could've had him killed, or imprisoned (which can instantly destroy a life/family/community) bc too often it’s the word of a white woman vs a black man w/o video to refute it (even WITH video!). A white woman’s accusation of Emmett Till whistling at her got him killed.

Racism should not need to go viral to bring about justice. Murder should not either. I wrote that in the wake of the public outrage following Ahmaud Arbery’s death + his murderers being charged 74 days after executing the black jogger in Georgia… only bc the video went viral.

But what even is justice? The arrest of murderers of that black man? The firing (NOT arrest) of police who murdered a black man? The firing of a racist white woman who threatened a black man? Nothing can bring back those lives, nor make black men feel safe, nor eliminate racism.

Ahmaud Arbery is dead. George Floyd is dead. And countless black men and women in America are dead, names we will never know, stories we will never see, justice that will never even have the chance to be pursued.

We need body cameras, yes. We need citizens to pull out phones, yes. We need bystanders to capture injustice on film, yes. But we need fundamental change in America to combat the weaponization of white privilege, police brutality, institutionalized racism, systems of oppression…

… like the racist systems which allow for black people to account for a disproportionate number of Covid deaths and face of a disproportionate percentage of the economic turmoil and on and on and on.

You might not want it to be, but this is America. Unjust, unequal, unsafe. Dangerous, destructive, dysfunctional. What are you doing to change that? To fight that? To combat that? Bc sharing a hashtag while people die every damn day for “being black while" is nowhere near enough.

This isn't enough either, but a few fellow white women in collaboration with black women compiled this list of concrete actions YOU can take for racial justice a few years back: http://medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234.

It includes advocating for criminal justice + police reform, changing education, contacting companies directly, donating to grassroots orgs, supporting black biz, divesting from those that support white supremacy + prison labor, watching, reading, lobbying, studying, following…

What else can we, white people, do? Engage honestly, shut the fuck up and listen to black people and people of color who live these seemingly unfathomable yet all too real, tragic, painful, deadly truths every day. And with that, I am going to listen to my own advice. //

And appreciation, dare I say gratitude, for the daily / lifelong education I wish weren't necessary from friends like @samswey @baratunde @kendrick38 @deray @corybooker, people I respect hugely like @MsPackyetti @ava @BerniceKing + journalists like @Yamiche @abbydphillip + more.