A war is coming to the United States of America and the government is the problem. Since 17 year old Black teenager Trayvon Martin was murdered by an overzealous bigot in Florida three years ago, race relations have only gotten worse. Of course, the murder of Blacks by the White majority (civilians and law enforcement) has a long history in this country. However, the U.S. appears destined for a resurgence of the volatile social climate of the 1950s and 60s that forced Blacks to fight back against the the brutality being inflicted on them by the White majority.
With the acquittal of various men in this country for the murders of a list of Black people so long that listing of names would take up a great deal of this article, Black Americans are quickly growing more and more frustrated. In addition to murders, a number of cowardly people have committed acts of intimidation against Blacks and the congress and judicial systems are stripping Blacks of their voting rights. Most of the wrongs done against Blacks either has government support (financially, legally, etc.) or the government turns a blind eye. I write this article as a prediction for the violence that will come to this country if the government-sanctioned murders and harassment of Black people does not stop. Black people will only take so much before they respond to violence in kind!
On the night of Thursday, March 19, 2015 I was watching the Georgetown Basketball team in the NCAA tournament and came across a story on Facebook about a Black man in Mississippi being found hanging from a tree. The shock of the story took me out of fun of the game, the time I was spending with my partner and I simply shut down. How could it be that in 2015 a Black man has died in this way? What has been more shocking has been the deafening silence around this case and the narrative that is being created. The police in MS. took days to identify the body of Byrd (although there was suspicion that it was him from the beginning), few media outlets have covered the story and the small amount of coverage for this case has commenced the narrative of Byrd as a criminal who may have committed suicide. Furthermore, the idea that a black man born in the 1960s and raised in the south would commit suicide by hanging himself from a tree is absurd. Yet, that is the narrative “reporters” are creating without any factual basis. In the days since, little else has been added to the story of Otis Byrd. Despite a community that is rallying behind his family and calling for justice, there are still no answers and no national call-to-action.
The case of Otis Byrd is only a recent case of the taking of Black American lives that goes unnoticed or without justice. In the last 24 hours I have seen reports of two shocking stories. First, the decision to dismiss charges (requested by the prosecuting attorney) against an officer in the shooting death of a 7 year old Black girl in Detroit in 2010. Second, a Black female student at Texas university who returned home to death threats and racial slurs scribbled all over her apartment. These two incidents are on the heels of a bus full of SAE frat guys from Oklahoma University singing gleefully about lynching Black men rather than admitting them to their fraternity.
With such stories occurring every day in the U.S. it has become clear to me that some White people only understand violence. These people cannot be taught. Nor can they be reasoned with. They will never change their mind about Black people and will continue spreading their hatred until they are met with the EQUAL force with which Black people have faced for centuries. They are not dying out with old age, but instead are corrupting youth to think and, more importantly, act as they do. They only understand violence and the day is coming that some Black people will start an uprising and will match their heinous crimes.
White people who commit these acts of institutionalized racism and violence are lauded privately in their communities. Yet, it is Black men, women and children who are simply fighting for their lives that are defamed in the media as “thugs” and “asking for it”. Furthermore, there are a class of Black people pushing respectability politics and blaming Blacks for their own plight in America. The idea that if Black people would simply pull up their pants, get an education and get a job, all of the racial issues they face will evaporate.
Black leaders such as the alleged rapist Bill Cosby and the actor/musician Common push these ideas and place the responsibility of fixing this country on the shoulders of Black people. Black people whose ancestors were stolen from their homes and brought to this country to build what is now the United States of America. These Black celebrities have been insulated from much of the day-to-day racism and discrimination that Blacks encounter due to their own personal success and insist that nothing holds Blacks back other than their inability to have a strong work ethic.
What is needed to change this country is for White people to stop discriminating against Blacks and other minorities. We need for the attacks against Black people to stop. We need the White majority to understand and embrace the fact the Black Lives Matter. For if they don’t, Blacks will respond with the type of violence they have dealt with for years. I bet Whites won’t like being turned into “Strange Fruit”.
With the acquittal of various men in this country for the murders of a list of Black people so long that listing of names would take up a great deal of this article, Black Americans are quickly growing more and more frustrated. In addition to murders, a number of cowardly people have committed acts of intimidation against Blacks and the congress and judicial systems are stripping Blacks of their voting rights. Most of the wrongs done against Blacks either has government support (financially, legally, etc.) or the government turns a blind eye. I write this article as a prediction for the violence that will come to this country if the government-sanctioned murders and harassment of Black people does not stop. Black people will only take so much before they respond to violence in kind!
On the night of Thursday, March 19, 2015 I was watching the Georgetown Basketball team in the NCAA tournament and came across a story on Facebook about a Black man in Mississippi being found hanging from a tree. The shock of the story took me out of fun of the game, the time I was spending with my partner and I simply shut down. How could it be that in 2015 a Black man has died in this way? What has been more shocking has been the deafening silence around this case and the narrative that is being created. The police in MS. took days to identify the body of Byrd (although there was suspicion that it was him from the beginning), few media outlets have covered the story and the small amount of coverage for this case has commenced the narrative of Byrd as a criminal who may have committed suicide. Furthermore, the idea that a black man born in the 1960s and raised in the south would commit suicide by hanging himself from a tree is absurd. Yet, that is the narrative “reporters” are creating without any factual basis. In the days since, little else has been added to the story of Otis Byrd. Despite a community that is rallying behind his family and calling for justice, there are still no answers and no national call-to-action.
The case of Otis Byrd is only a recent case of the taking of Black American lives that goes unnoticed or without justice. In the last 24 hours I have seen reports of two shocking stories. First, the decision to dismiss charges (requested by the prosecuting attorney) against an officer in the shooting death of a 7 year old Black girl in Detroit in 2010. Second, a Black female student at Texas university who returned home to death threats and racial slurs scribbled all over her apartment. These two incidents are on the heels of a bus full of SAE frat guys from Oklahoma University singing gleefully about lynching Black men rather than admitting them to their fraternity.
With such stories occurring every day in the U.S. it has become clear to me that some White people only understand violence. These people cannot be taught. Nor can they be reasoned with. They will never change their mind about Black people and will continue spreading their hatred until they are met with the EQUAL force with which Black people have faced for centuries. They are not dying out with old age, but instead are corrupting youth to think and, more importantly, act as they do. They only understand violence and the day is coming that some Black people will start an uprising and will match their heinous crimes.
White people who commit these acts of institutionalized racism and violence are lauded privately in their communities. Yet, it is Black men, women and children who are simply fighting for their lives that are defamed in the media as “thugs” and “asking for it”. Furthermore, there are a class of Black people pushing respectability politics and blaming Blacks for their own plight in America. The idea that if Black people would simply pull up their pants, get an education and get a job, all of the racial issues they face will evaporate.
Black leaders such as the alleged rapist Bill Cosby and the actor/musician Common push these ideas and place the responsibility of fixing this country on the shoulders of Black people. Black people whose ancestors were stolen from their homes and brought to this country to build what is now the United States of America. These Black celebrities have been insulated from much of the day-to-day racism and discrimination that Blacks encounter due to their own personal success and insist that nothing holds Blacks back other than their inability to have a strong work ethic.
What is needed to change this country is for White people to stop discriminating against Blacks and other minorities. We need for the attacks against Black people to stop. We need the White majority to understand and embrace the fact the Black Lives Matter. For if they don’t, Blacks will respond with the type of violence they have dealt with for years. I bet Whites won’t like being turned into “Strange Fruit”.