I’m sick and tired of double standards.
The rest would be easier if America was a nation that offered equal treatment to those who cross the lines. Simply apply the same rules. Enforce the same judgment. Apply the same principles.
This is the echoing cry among Black people who witnessed the hostile takeover of the National Capitol. A mob of furious Trump conspiracy theory supporters imagined the passion of the Boston Tea Party and utilized every ounce of their white privilege to do the unimaginable. They pressed their way through the grip of limited security and violated the pride of American democracy.
They did it with epic ease. They stampeded that sacred space as if escorted by ushers waiting their arrival. They marched through halls symbolizing Constitutional nobility with the sanction of their whiteness. They flounced with no fear of retribution. They evoked the memory of Southern domination with the waving of a Confederate flag. They wore the armor of their militia – red hats with a slogan to “Make America Great Again.” In doing so, they made America worse.
It was a massive display of white freedom.
Listen to the echo. Where is the teargas? Where are the tanks with soldiers prepared to take a shot? Where is the call for law and order from the President after the horde of insurrectionist showed up to force their agenda? Can we talk about the destruction of property? Can we discuss campaign ads championing law and order?
Remember the June 1, 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstration outside the White House? There was no attempt to breach security. It was more than a block away from the Capitol. Congress was not in session. The crowd was mostly Black.
That’s the difference that matters.
The protest was interrupted by a regiment of D.C police, US Park police, more than 5,000 national guard troops, representatives from the bureau of prisons with a helicopter hovering low. Teargas was used to disperse the crowd. Protestors were beaten with batons and shot with rubber bullets.
Do you remember the moment? Before the smoke cleared, Donald Trump, pranced in front of a church for a photo op while displaying a bible. Trump went on to use Black Lives Matter protest to strike fear among voters in ways that evoked the warning the negroes are coming!
It’s time for a reckoning. Is protest just for white people? When Black people gather, is it assumed massive forces are necessary to curtail violence?
The lesson in the moment relates to the assumptions people make. Some of those people serve in high places. Someone in one of those positions should have considered the hyperbole leading up to yesterday’s act of sedition. They should have seen it coming. The writing was on the wall written in bold red letters. No one should have been surprised – unless there is an assumption that this is not what white people do.
This is the double standard regarding the enforcement of amendment protections. White people can assemble while openly carrying firearms. Black people are met with resistance while peacefully protesting. Plans are made in preparation for a Black Lives Matter gathering. A few dozen police officers are left to secure the Capitol at the protest of mostly white Trump supporters.
Damn these double standards.
Is it political, or is it motivated by assumptions related to race? Does it really matter when the outcome is another layer to the maddening display of white privilege?
CNN News Commentator Van Jones made an insightful point in the aftermath of yesterday’s uprising. We don’t know what this means. Does it define who we are as a nation, or is it informing what we will become. In many ways, that’s the lesson of these four dreadful years. With every Trump Twitter posting, with each shooting of an unarmed Black person by police, with every protest hoped to redefine America’s criminal justice system, we’re compelled to critique stupendous double standards.
How we confront these double standards can help in our reimagining who we are and what it means for us to be a united nation. We can assume the merit of business as usual, or we can resolve to defy the preservation of white privilege. It’s the choice we must make in confronting the madness stirred by a four-year legacy of divisive rhetoric and unfounded conspiracy theories.
Change please.
No comments:
Post a Comment