We Can't Breathe
***Before you begin reading***
I want to say that I wanted to write this earlier, but I couldn’t find the right words and I didn’t know how to string together my thoughts. I am no expert on this subject and I still have a lot of learning to do, but I wanted to share what has been on my mind.
With that being said, I am a person that is capable of making mistakes and if for whatever reason there is something that I have written that is incorrect or not explained properly, please reach out to me and educate me on where I went wrong and how I can improve.
(I’m hoping that there isn’t such a case, but I know it is still possible).
For a week, the media has been filled with images and videos, live content and links surrounding the peaceful protests and riots for the Black Lives Matter movements that have taken place around the world. It is the topic of every conversation and the thought on every mind. Some people find it uncomfortable. Some people say it is “too much” and that the riots are “unnecessary”…
There are many take aways from what I just wrote.
But the one you probably missed, was at the beginning when I said “a week”.
Because the basic human rights that people are screaming for haven’t just surged to the surface this week-
THEY HAVE BEEN SCREAMING LIKE THIS FOR DECADES.
But their voices have been muted and ignored, muddled as if they were underwater.
Screaming, drowning, pleading for help, while most of us turned a blind eye.
While most of us did nothing.
Maybe we didn’t know. Maybe we did and we didn’t care. Maybe we did and we do care…
The fact is, is that people of colour are fighting for the same thing that every white person, myself included, already has- BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS, but more than that, a life that is free of judgement, that is safe and that is respected and valued the same as any other life.
Over the past week I, like many, have done a lot of self-reflection, I’ve had a lot of open conversations, and I’ve educated myself on topics that I didn’t fully comprehend. I am going to share some of the things that I’ve learned, along with the resources to help you (or your friends, family, cousins, aunts, teachers, doctors, etc.) learn too.
1. I am white and I am privileged.
Now, before you say anything, this I already knew. I’ve known this for a long time, but just knowing it is very different from doing something about it. I grew up in a suburban, white neighbourhood. I went to a catholic elementary and high school where I could count on my fingers the number of students that were not white. I played sports, I went to a private school, I have had the freedom to travel and drive my own car and attend university without a single person taking a second glance. I have taken my life for granted.
I have never had to worry about being turned away from a job because of the colour of my skin.
I have never had to struggle to make friends because I don’t stand out in a crowd.
I have never had to be taught how to act in front of a police officer, as if one wrong word or move could mean the difference between life and death.
I have never had to wonder if I would be safe at night.
I have never been oppressed because of my skin colour.
That is white privilege.
If you don’t have to think about it- It’s a privilege.
Knowing that you are white and privileged is an opportunity to learn and educate yourself and others about injustice and inequality and create change.
Which brings me to the second thing I have learned…
2. How to be a White Ally
Like I said before, knowing that I am privileged and doing something about it are very different things. These words have been ingrained into my mind and for me they are true:
I understand that I will NEVER understand.
However, I stand.
I understand that no number of books, movies, articles, documentaries, lessons or conversations can teach me what it is like to live as a black person or a person of colour. To feel and live through each day knowing that there is an entire world waiting for me to slip up or step out of line.
But even so, I want people of colour to know that I am their ally in their fight. That I want the same justice that they want. That I want them to have a life where all my opportunities are just as easily accessible and attainable to them as they are to me.
But how?
First off, writing a post like this. A post that should have already been written, that shouldn’t have taken protests and riots to spark. But also reading posts like this, having conversations and educating myself and others.
ASK! Ask people of colour what you can do!
and then DO IT. (that’s the key)
Notice when racism is denied, minimized or justified and SPEAK THE FUCK UP- because it is wrong. Don’t be the person ignoring the screams underwater- be the person that helps to save them.
If you think that would make you uncomfortable, speaking up against racism when you feel like your words won’t matter- imagine how uncomfortable it is for the person being discriminated against.
Show support- post, repost, go to a protest (with proper PPE protection and maintain physical distancing), stay informed on all angles – not just what the news wants you to see. Sign petitions and make donations to organizations that are fighting this battle (see end for links to these organizations). Support local black businesses within your community!
There was an image I posted on my Instagram that I’ve added here because I think it speaks volumes:
3. Racism Runs Deep and the System is BROKEN
Systemic racism has been a negative constant throughout history, especially in America. Their entire economy, institutions and government are built on it.
The United States of America is the most ironic country on the planet because it calls itself “the land of the free”.
If it is the land of the free then why does 25% of the worlds prisoners live in the USA? And why is it that statistics show that 1 in 3 black males will do time in prison compared to only 1 in 17 white males? Because the SYSTEM IS BROKEN. The United States of America has spent years brainwashing their citizens into believing that there is a divide between black people and white people. They forced black people into their country as slaves and then freed them, but created the thirteenth amendment, which states
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” – Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
So the government lost slaves, they lost their workforce, they were afraid of a decline in economy, so they created a loophole and deliberately sought out black Americans to criminalize them over minor if not zero crimes, and put them to work, where they were before.
For decades the government has created laws, bills, and policies that continuously prevent African Americans from receiving equal rights. They failed their black citizens. Their country failed them when they decided that their rights weren’t as important as white rights.
In 1970 the prison population was over 300,000 and by 2014 it surpassed 2 million- the majority of which are African Americans. Presidents created entire campaigns around incarcerating black people, they told the nation it was a “war against drugs” but really it was a war against colour.
As a result, police brutality continues to increase along with criminal injustices. Black people are shot and killed impulsively and carelessly by police officers, who think that killing is the solution to the problem. It’s cases like Michael Brown Jr, who was pulled over and wrongfully shot by a white officer. It’s Treyvon Martin, a 17 year old boy who was wrongfully shot by a white police officer- who then later pled not guilty. It’s Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, Korey Wise and Raymond Santana who were wrongfully convicted of raping a women an New York City and spent six to eleven years of their lives in prison for it, only to be released back into a world that had completely betrayed them. It’s George Floyd, a man pulled over and brutally murdered by officers who continued to kneel on his windpipe through strangled breathes saying, “I can’t breathe” until that voice was silent. And those are only a fraction of the names, lives, and families that have been victims of police brutality.
Black people are convicted of minor crimes that any white person would get a slap on the wrist for. Then they are told they can go to a trial, but that they will lose and end up in prison longer than if they plea guilty- even if they are not. Then they are given bail at a price that the institutions know they will never be able to afford. And if that wasn’t enough, after spending their time for a minor crime, or even a crime they didn’t commit, they are released into the world, but striped of their citizenship, their right to vote and their ability to get a job- they’re thrown back into society like a fish thrown back into the ocean with no fins. So tell me how the American people can vote out a racist president when the majority of them aren’t allowed to vote? Once again, the system failed them.
But it goes deeper than the government and the institutions because racism is still occurring in our everyday lives. Sometimes it happens and we don’t even realize it, like not being able to buy band-aids that match all skin tones or not having dark ballet shoes for ballerinas. Some of those things you probably never noticed before- that’s privilege.
4. Not all cops are bad, but rather
the system is bad.
I believe that there are good, kind, judgement free officers of the law, I do. But I think they are far and few. I also think that being a police officer is a difficult job. They are responsible for PROTECTING the LIVES of civilians. But it is also a job that comes with a lot of power. Power is one of those things that can consume a person and make them lose control. This was a conversation that I was having with my friend, and we agreed that as I discussed earlier, the system is broken, but moreover,
a system designed to protect the public CAN’T AFFORD TO BE BROKEN.
Why is it that in some places it takes a new high school graduate four years to earn a degree, then potentially longer to earn a living, while in those same places, it takes 6 months to become an officer of the law? Can you seriously tell me that the people who’s hands we are LITERALLY putting our lives in, have the proper education to fulfill that job?
No. They don’t.
I personally believe that becoming a police officer needs to be as competitive, as long and as difficult as it is to graduate university. They should be people that learn about human behavior and psychology, who understand how the system is broken and how not to repeat the mistakes of the past. They need to be taught about the levels of institutionalized racism in their country and how to minimize it and support minorities. Now, I am not saying all cops are un-educated. I know that there are officers that have attended universities, that have degrees and diplomas, but the system needs better standards- Chris Rock said it best:
“ “It’s not most cops, it’s just a few bad apples.” Bad apples? That almost makes it sound nice. I’ve had a bad apple. It was tart, but it didn’t choke me out. Here’s the thing. I know it’s hard being a cop. I know it’s hard. I know that shit’s dangerous. I know it is okay? But some jobs just can’t have bad apples. Some jobs, everybody gotta be good. Like…pilots. You know? American Airlines can’t be like, “Most of our pilots like to land. We just got a few bad apples that like to crash into mountains.” - Chris Rock
5. It does NOT stop at the border
I know it seems like I have been focused on America and the racism within that country, but let me be clear- this is a WORLD-WIDE issue, and it is an issue in Canada. Maybe we believe we are better than the US- we aren’t. Not only do we continue to discriminate against black citizens but we STILL have the ignorance and audacity to preach our kindness when we live on land that was never ours to begin with. We are living on unceded colonized land.
We live in a country where indigenous people are oppressed and made to feel alienated on their own land EVERY DAY.
As a soon to be nurse, it breaks my heart to think that indigenous community members are afraid to seek healthcare because of fear of being pushed aside, unheard or disbelieved because of a reputation that our country has forced upon them.
Indigenous people are NOT savages
are NOT drunks or drug addicts,
NOT evil or harmful- they are PEOPLE!
HUMAN BEINGS, who’s rights have been taken away from them again and again by white, privileged people and institutions.
Canada has played a role in discrimination against indigenous populations for years. They took away land, they tore apart families, they stole children from their homes and forced them into residential schools to strip them of their freedom and their culture. Their lives have been lost, women have been missing and murdered and then swept under the rug leaving them voiceless once again.
Canada is no better than the United States.
Canada had slaves
Canada had Japanese concentration camps
Canada had residential schools and
Canada HAS racism.
The only difference is, is I have hope that our government is hearing our screams and throwing out life preservers and fighting for a future where people are not oppressed by the colour of their skin or their cultural background or both. I can’t say the same for the USA.
6. STOP saying ALL LIVES MATTER.
This should be a given, but clearly if I have to bring it up, some people just aren’t quite getting it.
7. STOP saying the RIOTs are uncalled for, unnecessary, or “too much”
You know what you can get back if it is burned down? A building.
You know what you can NOT get back if it is burned down? A life.
Instead of saying “It’s terrible that an innocent black man was killed, but destroying property has to stop”
TRY SAYING “ It’s horrible that property is being destroyed, but killing black men has to stop”.
8. The media has a HUGE role in this.
It is so vital that while on social media and while watching the news, you remind yourself that you are seeing what people want you to see. The information is skewed, it always is. Please make sure to ask yourself about where the information is coming from and do your own research before making assumptions or telling half of a story. I’m not going to tell you what to share and what not to share, because it is all important in one way or another, but make sure that your main point, your thesis, your central focus is that you understand that black people are not treated fairly, that people of colour are fighting for equality and that you are with them in that fight.
I also hope that you take the time to recognize the influence of the media. I want you to think about your favourite TV shows and movies- how many of them have a person of colour as the main character? How many of them have a person of colour as the side-kick or as comic relief? Think about how many black women and men are not given enough recognition in the music and film industry. Movies and music influence our lives, but how can we live when the only stories we see and hear are the ones of the majorities?
More black people and people of colour need to be represented in films as more than just a side-kick, but as leaders, protagonists, heroes, romantics, genius’- as people.
I know that it feels like the world is falling apart.
We are fighting two wars, one new and one old.
There is a lot of uncertainty.
Please remember that one of these battles will fade, but the other will not.
Please remember that your voice MATTERS, your support MATTERS and that you MATTER
Please continue to educate, to have difficult conversations, to teach others, to share and post and retweet what the world is doing to move towards a future where people aren’t defined by the colour of their skin.
And most importantly, take care- of each other, of our planet and of yourself.
Below is a list of resources from websites, books, documentaries, petitions and more to help stay informed about the black lives matter movement and how to continue to support a world where the colour of your skin should no longer determine the value of a person.
Organizations:
Black Lives Matter
https://blacklivesmatter.ca/
Black Owned Businesses in Ottawa
https://www.buzzfeed.com/valezabakolli/ways-you-can-support-the-black-community
Nia Centre for the Arts
https://niacentre.org/
Support Black-Owned Businesses: 181 Places to Start Online
https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/support-black-owned-businesses/
Black Health Alliance
http://blackhealthalliance.ca/
Petitions:
Below is a link to a website that provides multiple organization accepting donations and requiring petition signatures- PLEASE, I implore you to sign and/or donate what you can!
https://www.refinery29.com/en-ca/2020/06/9851684/black-lives-matter-how-to-help-donate-support
The following are petitions I have signed:
- To demand justice for George Floyd
- To demand racial data on police-involved deaths I Canada
- To demand justice for Breonna Taylor
- Appealing the decision by the Attorney-General that makes voluntary intoxication a legitimate defense in sexual assault and violent crimes
This is a link to Indigenous Canadian charities that are also great and require donations and support:
https://www.wellesleyinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Full-Report-FPSCT-Updated.pdf
(even if you get the chance to skim the above text, it is worth educating yourself about!)
CLICK ON THE ABOVE IMAGE TO SCROLL THROUGH MORE BOOKS …
Mental Health Resources:
https://www.nfb.ca/subjects/indigenous-peoples-in-canada-first-nations-and-metis/
Above is a link to a list of multiple videos and movies about Indigenous people in Canada.
Thank you for reading
-Q
