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in the wan light of morning....
Nov. 25th, 2014 07:22 amLast night's decision in Ferguson didn't surprise me. I'm pretty sure it didn't surprise anyone. But lack of surprise doesn't mean we think it's acceptable, or okay.
Woke up this morning exhausted and still angry, and aware that I - a white woman - don't even know a fraction of it, and that makes me even more angry, because it shouldn't be like this. It shouldn't matter our skin color, as to how safe we feel when the people tasked with protecting us walk by.
But from the comments made on Facebook and Twitter last night - some of them clueless or hurtful, some of them truly racist - there's a percentage of people out there who default to "they're rioting and tearing up their own neighborhood, so clearly rhe cops were right."
The difference between a riot and revolt, goods-driven looting versus the manifestation of rage and unbearable pain - seems lost in the distance-viewing. Maybe that's how some people hold onto their belief that it won't ever happen to them, that they're safe, because they haven't done anything wrong.
I was raised to think of the cops as allies, guardians. I haven't felt that way in years, not when as a female I was at risk, not when any non-white companions I might be with were at risk. They have the weapons, the power, and - it's been made very clear - the run of the system. I know I'm not alone in this hesitation-to-trust.. And it's not our fault we feel this way, it's not something we-the-citizens have done wrong. It's the system, and it's the people in uniform who have let this fester and grow within their ranks, who have used the system to protect themselves, rather than those in true need.
"41 Shots"
This can't be fixed from only the outside-in. It has to be fixed from within, too.
Or it has to be dismantled and rebuilt, better.
And, because it's never good to go into the day bitter, sad, or despondent, I also give you this: ...and they told us to tell you hello.
Woke up this morning exhausted and still angry, and aware that I - a white woman - don't even know a fraction of it, and that makes me even more angry, because it shouldn't be like this. It shouldn't matter our skin color, as to how safe we feel when the people tasked with protecting us walk by.
But from the comments made on Facebook and Twitter last night - some of them clueless or hurtful, some of them truly racist - there's a percentage of people out there who default to "they're rioting and tearing up their own neighborhood, so clearly rhe cops were right."
The difference between a riot and revolt, goods-driven looting versus the manifestation of rage and unbearable pain - seems lost in the distance-viewing. Maybe that's how some people hold onto their belief that it won't ever happen to them, that they're safe, because they haven't done anything wrong.
I was raised to think of the cops as allies, guardians. I haven't felt that way in years, not when as a female I was at risk, not when any non-white companions I might be with were at risk. They have the weapons, the power, and - it's been made very clear - the run of the system. I know I'm not alone in this hesitation-to-trust.. And it's not our fault we feel this way, it's not something we-the-citizens have done wrong. It's the system, and it's the people in uniform who have let this fester and grow within their ranks, who have used the system to protect themselves, rather than those in true need.
"41 Shots"
This can't be fixed from only the outside-in. It has to be fixed from within, too.
Or it has to be dismantled and rebuilt, better.
And, because it's never good to go into the day bitter, sad, or despondent, I also give you this: ...and they told us to tell you hello.
