I’m taking a moment to set the record straight from a middle class, working mom, and person of color’s perspective.
George Floyd’s death sparked a call to action for many of us. For others, it was just another case added to the pile of wrongful deaths that we felt needed to stop.
The responses that came into public view from authoritive figures on multiple levels including our own President, our friends, family, and other peers were varied and caused a distinct division. A division I feel changed many of our lives, including my own, forever.
People of color and those supporting the movements seeking racial justice were met with backlash from people they had known their entire life to others who didn’t know anything about them. How could we say that Black lives were the only ones that mattered? How dare we participate in such unpatriotic protesting! If we didn’t like the way that things are, we should just leave America. Because after all, people participating in that must not support the true American Dream!
That last bit sounds crazy right? Imagine making a call to action for justice, a restoration of basic humanitarian rights, and seeking genuine equality only to be confronted with those baseless remarks. Yeah, it’s pretty exhaustive and overwhelming. Especially when it’s coming from people you loved and trusted in some form or another.
I can say now that I am a less trusting person. I am guarded and even more protective of the family I worked so hard to create. Not because I want to be, but because I feel it is necessary to ensure the safety and well-being of my family without any room for error.
Last year I decided to let go of many relationships in my life, big or small. It wasn’t as easy as people think it was. It didn’t bring me joy to stand so firm on issues I didn’t know I had to stand up for against people I let into my life. It wasn’t liberating to have to start compartmentalizing memories and people that I thought I would cherish forever into a box I probably won’t ever open again. But I digress.
This weeks events have reaffirmed that there is a distinction in how people of color are treated in America today. Not sure what I’m talking about?
What would have happened had the people that stormed Capitol Hill been Black, Mexican, Muslim, (fill in the blank)? It would have been condemned as an act of domestic terrorism. It would have been seen as insurrection or a Coup d'état...as it should be for the actual participants!
So what I am trying to say is that Wednesday’s events are a direct visual depiction of why our frustrations, demand for justice, and call for racial equality has been so relevant. It is the precise reason behind the fight we have been backing since last year that has dated back for centuries. There is a moment to gracefully disconfirm our beliefs when the evidence is overwhelming and to put our ego aside to accept the things we may not have realized before. I hope that if you are at that point now, that the transition is peaceful. Today is a new day.