Whose lives matter?
This day in age, one cannot answer that question without
making a political statement. If I were
to give an honest answer, I would surely be cashing in on my “liberal stripes.” Surely, as a liberal, I must adhere to
#blacklivesmatter. And I do.
Clearly, no matter how hard I try, I will never truly
understand the struggle of being a person of color in America. I have worked several jobs where I was the
only Caucasian in the room. I have as
good as immersed myself in non-White America as one who was raised an
upper-middle class Jewish American can.
And yet, as the saying goes, When in Rome, no matter how much pasta I eat, I will only be a
second-class citizen at best.
But does that mean I shouldn’t try? Does that mean I shouldn’t align myself with
#BLM? Absolutely not.
There are a few uncomfortable truths I would like to
air out in this post.
1) Yes, white privilege exists. Anyone who disagrees is lying or in denial. I have more than once experienced this.
How many times have I been
in a group of black people, and people thought I was “the boss”, in charge, or
some figure of authority thereof? And in
none of those situations did I explicitly state that I was any of the
above. People merely assumed that the
white guy with the stiff posture who walks with a gusto must be the man.
Body language, sometimes unintentional, can be damning.
I’ve been accused many
times of being racist. Sometimes it was “race
baiting.” A customer didn’t like the way
I looked at her, so she assumed I must have a problem with black people. It happens.
But most of the time, it was what we call microaggressions. Little
things that weren’t intended to be harmful, but still made me look like I was
not comfortable being around black people.
For example, seeing a group of black teenagers conversing loudly and
vibrantly, quickly walking the other way.
I wasn’t doing it to be racist, but it was obviously perceived as
such. Those who know me would know that
wasn’t my intention; but those who didn’t would think I’m being like George
Zimmerman.
Yes, white privilege exists. And it is the duty of all white people who
aspire to have meaningful coexistence with black people to be aware of
this.
2) White Guilt.
What is wrong with #AllLivesMatter, #BlueLivesMatter, or anything else
like that?
It’s that many people who
espouse views like that have traditionally been using it for racist purposes.
What’s wrong with being
proud to be white? Nothing. But bear in mind that if one searches for “White
Pride” on Google, they will find plenty of websites supporting KKK, Neo-Nazis,
et al.
Some would suggest taking
back whiteness.
I would say the climate
is not ripe for that. After all, it
would be perceived as being an affront to #BLM.
It wouldn’t add to the conversation.
It would only further drive a wedge.
I may not agree with
absolutely everything that every member of #BLM says. But I agree with the message at large. That black people have been unfairly targeted
for long enough. Even in our day when
slavery has been abolished, Jim Crow laws are mostly banned, even in our day
when segregation is no longer de jure, it still happens on a de facto basis;
and it needs to stop!
So now is not the time
for white people to speak. That would be
akin to when Kanye stole the mike from Taylor Swift. Sit down, listen, you’ll have your time, this
isn’t it.
3) On the acceptability of casual racism.
If there’s one lesson I’ve learned
from Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, it’s that for many Americans,
bigotry is okay as long as it’s not against your own group.
I am astounded at how many Americans can
turn the other way at Donald Trump’s many infractions. And his campaign too. There are too many to list right now, but
anyone who hasn’t been living in a cave for the past year knows what I’m talking
about.
I speak especially to my Jewish
brethren. Once upon a time, there were
Americans who used the same rhetoric against the Jews that Trump uses against
Mexicans, Muslims, Chinese, et al. There
was a time that plenty of Americans associated Jews with communists,
anarchists, Elders of Zion, and other pernicious stereotypes hellbent on
unpending society as we know it. Yes, there
was a time that Jews were barred from the highest jobs in the country. I’ve heard many stories about those days from
my grandparents (and people their age).
Some of them still maintain a general mistrust of non-Jews because of
those days.
Don’t
Do Unto Others….. not just a Christian concept. Many world religions have a concept similar
to this adage by Hillel. There is a
simple litmus test proposed by Abraham Foxman, founder of the ADL: If you want to know if a statement is racist,
make it about the Jews; if it now offends you, it is racist.
Let’s try one on for size: “We are going to deport every undocumented
Jewish immigrant from this country.” Or “When
Israel sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re not sending you,
they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those
problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bring crime. They’re rapists…
And some, I assume, are good people.”
Catch my drift?
America has a long way to go before it fully embraces
the dictum it was founded on, the dictum Jefferson said was self-evident, that
all [people] are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator
[whomever that may be] with certain unalienable rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Meanwhile, one cannot turn on the news without hearing
of more atrocities being committed against peaceful protesters. I cannot log onto my Facebook newsfeed
without echoing the words of Ecclesiastes, all
is vain.
I cannot accept a world where people assume that
because I am white, and because I sometimes slip up, that means I am on the
wrong side of history. And I have worked
hard to eliminate my childhood biases from my system. But I must accept that no matter how hard I try,
I will never be fully accepted—not by either side of the spectrum.
I choose to stand with #blacklivesmatter. I choose to stand with them because many
people of color in America still have a very raw deal; and it needs to
end.
Uncomfortable as it is for me to state this, it must
be said.