Read on Twitter
I can’t stop crying about this. A man was murdered...slowly...for 9 minutes in broad daylight by the people who are paid to protect him, while he pleaded for his life and cried for his dead mother.
And these same people went on to file a false report about what happened and went home. Thank God for a bystander’s video.
If you’re feeling “scared” or “terrified” by the destruction around you, please, please, please understand that those same emotions are what my husband, our three sons and I feel everyday when we step outside our home. And we’re not alone.
I went for a run in a suburban neighborhood the other day and stopped to sit on the curb to catch my breath. The only emotion I felt as I sat there was terrified... imagining which angry person might decide I didn’t belong there that day.
I feel terrified when I take my boys to the playground in the predominantly-white neighborhood by our home.
I’m angry that a white woman at the grocery store accused my 63-year old mother of shoplifting because she was “standing by the door,” and demanded to see her receipt. Her exact words were, “You people need to pay like the rest of us.”
I’m angry that my husband got fired from a job he loved because two white men filed a false complaint and management believed them.
You may be feeling scared, angry and terrified right now as you watch the destruction. I feel scared, terrified and angry every single day. And so do many of the so-called minorities in this nation. That’s wrong. That’s unfair. That needs to change.
May we finally begin to see this righteous anger as the invitation to heal the wounds of our violent history and to uproot white supremacy from the fabric of this nation. I pray this righteous anger brings about change.
The fact that the unrest, fires and looting are linked to bots and white supremacist groups is infuriating. We can’t even have our own protests without being marred by hate-filled people. Will there ever be a time of justice and fairness for black Americans? I am angry.
—MY BROTHER GOT ME THINKING SO I’M ADDING THIS—
If you’re reading this and you know me and my family are hardworking and kind people—remember that none of the four Minneapolis police officers stopped to research George Floyd’s character before they knelt down on his neck. And they won’t do that for me or my family either.
Racism in this country is an institution. It’s a system that’s holding black people back, and in some cases, killing us.
Either you are actively doing work to dismantle the structure or you are, by definition, complicit—especially if you are white and reaping the rewards of your privilege (whether that is purposely or unwittingly).
Please take a moment to consider this question: TELL ME WHAT YOU DID THIS WEEK TO DISMANTLE RACISM IN YOURSELF AND IN THIS COUNTRY? I look forward to your responses.
