One White officer is found guilty of murdering a Black man – a slow, agonizing death that was recorded and televised, causing severe trauma to the people watching it around the world. A textbook example of post-traumatic stress disorder for most people involved. However, no one is speaking up about the ongoing trauma that Black mothers experience on a daily basis, living with the present and persistent fear that when they send their child out into the world every day, that the likelihood of them returning home to them alive and in one piece is slim.
You hear people talking about White privilege as it relates to better jobs, more wealth and better opportunities, but you rarely hear them discuss the ultimate privilege of life and living life without fear. Black parents have to school their children from the tender age of 6 about the perceived threat that they are as a baby to grown White men simply because of the color of their skin. We have to be taught how to walk, talk and maneuver in a manner that will, hopefully, make us appear to be less threatening.
We have to learn that no amount of education, experience, wealth, prestige, fame or notoriety can replace the circumstance of being Black in America. It is undeniable that Black people have greatly contributed to American culture through art, music and inventions and have led movements while setting trends that have impacted the entire world. Yet, we have been under brutal attack since the beginning of time. White America has waged a war against us that has lasted for centuries, and they are not letting up.
Breonna Taylor. Daunte Wright. George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Philando Castile. Rayshard Brooks. Daniel Prude. Atatiana Jefferson. Sandra Bland. Aura Rosser. Stephon Clark. Botham Jean. Alton Sterling. Freddie Gray. Janisha Fonville. Korryn Gaines. Eric Garner. Michelle Cusseaux. Akai Gurley. Tamir Rice. Michael Brown. Ma’Khia Bryant. Tanisha Anderson. Marvin Scott. David McAtee. Tony McDade. Sean Reed. Manny Ellis. Samuel DuBose. Terence Crutcher. Antwon Rose. Terrence Sterling. Alfred Olango. Sean Bell. Oscar Grant. Kathryn Johnston. Trayvon Martin. Timothy Russell. Laquan McDonald. Walter Scott … and the list goes on.
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