The past few months have been exhausting. The past week or so has been even worse. The fact that we are still having to argue about why a human life should matter regardless of the color of their skin is old and tiring but still relevant today. No one is denying the fact that everyone matters and all lives are important but are you so blinded by your ancestors hatred that you can’t understand that what is happening to Black people is important? No one is saying that one race is more important than the other. What we’re saying is that YOU CAN’T say that everyone is important UNTIL Black people are held to the SAME STANDARD as White people and are made to feel just as important! If you can’t understand that concept at this point then it means that you don’t want to. The truth of the matter is that you are afraid that your privilege is being attacked. We will no longer stand for this! If you feel that what happened to George Floyd is wrong but are only speaking about the looting that is going on and how the protesters shouldn’t be violent, then please take a second to recognize that you are part of the problem. No one is saying that any of these things is right and that the deaths of cops or anyone else is right. But if you can understand that the death of an innocent life or even that of one who isn’t innocent but was killed before they could even have a chance to be proven innocent or guilty, then why can’t you understand it when people continue to say that Black Lives Matter? It’s okay to be FOR cops but still want them to be held accountable for their actions. They are supposed to serve and protect the people but are abusing their power. Please also don’t misunderstand and think that when we say Black Lives Matter that we don’t care about White people or other POC who have been wrongfully killed by police brutality. This is our battle too! We care about all lives more than you care to think because EVERYONE is being included. Black people are not the only ones being senselessly killed but they are the majority. I also say “we” because I am a POC and this is my fight too. I have been seeing so many people say that White people are being killed by police brutality as well but I don’t see those people actually joining us in trying to do something about it. Believe it or not, this movement is for you too! Police have been abusing their power for years and getting away with it and it needs to end.
I want to also speak on us Hispanics who are also part of the problem. Just because your European roots are strong, doesn’t mean that you didn’t come from Black people. We are a mixed people and we have African descent within us. Let’s not continue to pretend that racism and colorism don’t exist within our community. It’s so sad to think that even in your own community, people can judge you because of the color of your skin. I am not white but because of the color of my skin I am most certainly privileged and if your complexion is similar to mine, then you have privilege too. We have years and years of deeply rooted hatred for our dark skinned and brown skinned people. OUR PEOPLE. It has to end. It makes me wonder if we are worse than racist White people because we are POC and still perpetuating hate. We experience racism from White people who think we are less than and tell us to go back to where we belong but we still choose to go out and spread that exact same hatred onto our Black brother’s and sisters. We need to start educating our mother’s and father’s and their parents about their own culture and stop this hatred because IT STARTS WITH US! Just because it has been passed on to us throughout generations to hate ourselves because of having darker skin or curly hair, doesn’t mean we can’t grow and learn to embrace it. If you aren’t standing with this movement and saying Black Lives Matter then you are part of the problem and you need to fix it. I was raised by ignorance but even while I was still young, chose to educate myself and be better and not take part in that ignorance. It’s not impossible to change and be better human beings. You don’t have to understand or experience the struggle to know that it exists and it’s time that we start standing up and start educating the source from where this hatred comes from.
With that being said, unfortunately, there are those who don’t want to learn or be taught no matter what we do or say. It doesn’t matter what images they see on social media or on the news or the truths that are being given to them. They simply choose to ignore it because they have the privilege to continue on with their lives and are able to continue living in peace. I will never understand why someone would feel so threatened by someone because of the color of their skin. I will never understand why people could wish death upon someone or feel that someone is beneath them because of the color of their skin. It’s infuriating and exhausting to think about but this is the world that we live in. These are the problems our country and our world have been facing for years and years. I truly hope and believe that we will see change. Silence is being complicit because it’s what we’ve been doing for all of these years and it’s why we’re here now. I will keep speaking out and I will no longer remain silent. If you just so happen to read this then I hope you choose to speak out as well, and if you have been, I hope you keep that momentum and keep pushing forward.
Click here for a list of resources that I have compiled for ways that you can help. Stay strong!
