By: When you’re really woke, You register and Vote!
2020 vision, perfect sight, vision, See Us!
The intersection of COVID-19 and George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis
So what have we seen lately? What racial issues have been brought into focus?
Seeing clearly- a video of murder by cop. That young lady focused her cell phone camera on an obscenity. It’s 2020 the facts are clear.
Seeing clearly- people in the streets getting tear-gassed for the purpose of taking a campaign photo. It’s 2020 and we can clearly see the man that lives in the white house’s vision for the country, it’s about him getting reelected. He had as much familiarity with the Bible he held up as he would have with a trout he just caught.
Let us see clearly that Black people are 5 times more likely to die from Covid-19 than whites. The virus that attacks your breathing and spreads easily has taken away many of us. it’s 2020, Is there a focus on how to help a community that is disproportionally affected by this pandemic?
Is this even seen as a problem by the administration in Washington? They seem blind to the facts. Indifferent to the health and well-being of Black America-is it because we didn’t vote for him? If our poll numbers were better for his re-election, then would we get a strategic plan to abate this virus in our communities? it’s 2020, where is the focus?
So in 2020, it is more clear than ever, you don’t need glasses to see that Blacks in America are under siege. We have been complaining about police brutality forever. People have minimized our plaintiff cries for years. But now, now we have an ally, finally, Blacks have a cohort that allows America to see our repeated experience with bad policing. This partnership really came out of the blue, but its effectiveness can’t be denied. The best thing to happen to Black people in the last 400 years….. is cell phone video. It is no longer acceptable to minimize and ignore the cries of our community. We can all see the footage. George Floyd was murdered in the street in a way that they wouldn’t have killed a dog. It’s 2020 and the dehumanization of Black America has come into focus all over the world. The world sees it.
We have to see, really see with 2020 vision what is happening with Black people.
We have to correct the vision that blames the victims for their circumstances. COVID-19 is taking more Black and Brown lives, does America see why?
Is it clear to whites what is at the root of this condition? Comorbidity or pre-existing conditions are killing Black people with Covid-19. Increased risk factors related to more Black and Brown people working in jobs that put them in close contact with large groups of people through their day, living in densely populated urban areas and using public transportation. There are pre-existing conditions of both race and health, strongly tied to social conditions. Being Black in America is itself a pre-existing condition. That is on top of other serious medical conditions. I would like to offer some thoughts on why. In the year 2020, It is in an effort to clarify, to bring into focus the racial issues of the day in the context of our history.
Racism has been a resident in America since the colonists/occupiers landed.
European colonialists created the social construct that people of color were intellectually inferior, less than human, lazy, dirty, etc. They found scientists to prove that our brains were smaller. They determined that the way we prayed was wrong, that we had no values. These false attributes were assigned to First Nations peoples and Africans. This fictional racial narrative was born in the centrist imagination of Europeans. They used social constructs buttressed by the institutions of monarchy, science, and religion to rationalize thievery, murder, and enslavement. They used their misunderstanding of people unknown to them to pronounce superiority over people and land. Aptly put by Cherokee women musicians, Ulali, in their song “Going Home”, they sing that Africans and American Indians are “stolen people on stolen land”.
Unseen Institutions
America must put on its glasses and see what is in plain sight-A historically unbalanced, unequal, and unjust criminal justice system.
Key institutions like Government, the Economy, Religion, Family, Health Care, Education, and Work have much power in our society. They make up the norms and rules about how we do everything. This includes the criminal justice system-police, police unions, prosecutors, and judges. These institutions are created by people. Policies, practices, and attitudes of individual people guide our country every day. Many institutions in America have been closed to people in color and poor people of any color. Institutions are frequently left out when identifying the source of racism in America-they are omnipresent and hard to see. But again, they are made up of individuals that bring with them their own bias and personal experiences. These predominately white and male run institutions create a policy from their privileged personal vantage point. We are trapped in a cycle of racism that perpetuates itself, with few individuals willing to share power with our community. These institutions literally don’t see us accurately-our existence/experience in America is out of their sight. Institutional racism is just as culpable as an individual who burns a cross on a Black family’s lawn. It may be even worse because it is a framework so large and pervasive that it can’t be seen. Institutions are the puppet master behind the curtains pulling the strings. At some point, you believe the illusion and forget that there are strings.
Unseen benefits of privilege
Most white people are blind to their privilege. Most don’t have a rapport with privilege because they never asked for it, never sought it out. But they were born with it by virtue of skin color in America. It’s like an invisible forcefield, that surrounds your body every minute of every day, In American culture, it’s hard to claim, to own, what you can’t see or pay for. So white America needs to have perfect 2020 vision, to see how privilege affords you unearned benefits in this country. It’s hard for whites to not be defensive about this. But we all have our burdens and this is yours. Speaking of blind spots, whites are also blind to Black people’s pain. heck, we are blind to it. The yin to the yang of privilege is that Black people have none. This hurts. It is painful. Our lack of privilege is also assigned at birth and unearned. People of color have no forcefield, no protection of privilege. It’s 2020, like the year, it’s time to put on your glasses and see with clarity what is going on with Blacks in America. Its time white America gets 2020 vision.
I mean that in the nicest way. I am using the term white people to describe the slight majority racial group that makes up the dominant culture in America. I am also using it in the historic sense. As a Black person, I don’t mean to offend whites, lest my thoughts are discounted out of hand. I am trying to be authentic about what I see and ways you may reframe your thoughts and actions. But I am writing this to offer some explanation on the complex issues that white America legitimately may not be aware of. So if you are a truly woke white person, please forgive my generalizations. To be clear I am also generalizing Black America. I am so heartened to see more whites on the streets angry and protesting over George Floyd than I have ever seen before. Your voice has shifted things. Focused whites are going to have to dismantle racism, not Black people. You are going to have to share economic and political power – not in a patronizing way- not doled out as you see fit-not on your terms, on ours for once. If you really wake, you can’t be a vulture sitting on our rotting carcass, picking away at the juiciest bits of our culture leaving the dry bones for the wind. You gotta take it all, let us be genuine and accept all the parts of us.
Plus, you gotta educate yourself on candidates and vote in every election people!
A steady-state of loss
I have been accused of needing to lighten up many times. Whites may ask “Why are they so angry?” “The angry Black man or woman” Y’all are angry at us for being angry. Our anger is a real thing. We are tired, we are beyond tired. We wish we were just tired. I long for the time when I was just tired. We are weary of racism.
America sees our anger-rage-and violence. But it takes a keen eye, a compassionate eye to see beyond our anger and rage to see hurt and disappointment. The hurt of expectations unmet. The hurt of powerlessness, of not being believed, the hurt of the voiceless.
Many people are familiar with the stages of grief: like denial, sadness, shock, anger, etc. But there are stages of anger too. A closer look at the anger in our community can maybe offer some context.
Being angry starts at a certain point. It starts with a loss. Before there is anger, there is a loss. A slight of some kind, some shade as the kids say, an insult, a disappointment, some unfairness.
For example, the expectation that as a customer you will be treated well, instead you get treated with indifference or unworthiness or contempt. A reminder that you “don’t belong,” “you’re not good enough,” you’re a waste of time because you have no money” or “you just don’t matter that much.” Being Black you just now you’re not getting the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes the loss or slight could be a prejudgment- “people like you are”….(fill in the blank with anything negative.) Maybe it’s “I can’t trust you, I have to be on my guard”. These are all losses of self, your sense of well-being, and losses of self-agency. Losses that you feel….deep…down to the bone. They call these microaggressions but to me, they are just mindless hateful aggressions. The sharpest knife can make the deepest cut.
In grade school you are taught about the constitution and laws of the land, you sing the anthem, say the pledge of allegiance. You are taught early on that America promises you equality and freedom. That justice is about truth and fairness. Then you become a young adult, out in the world a bit and expecting that “all men are created equal”. But you soon learn that justice isn’t for you, that truth doesn’t necessarily matter, and the invisible forces of privilege and power are against you. As a child, you have an expectation of being treated fairly and it just doesn’t materialize for you. Your expectations are not met, your disappointment grows with each negative interaction you face. So now you have ample evidence that what you thought was America- is not at all.
It feels like whatever is at work in institutions, power, and authority, not only doesn’t work for you but these invisible systems are taking aim at you. Something you can’t see has so much power over your life. It is easy to feel that you don’t belong, you are on the outside looking in.-in your own country. So we bypass the hurt feelings and go straight to the anger, And you don’t even know who or what to be mad at. It’s easy to be mad at everyone including yourself. It is said that people who are hurt will hurt other people. It’s a way to relieve some of the pressure, the pain. Visit the pain on someone else for a little temporary relief.
Back to the microaggressions, this poor treatment is often not spoken aloud. It may not be articulated at all. It could be an attitude, some body language or both. These social cues are all too familiar to Black people. We have seen it so many times. You just kind of know in certain situations you will encounter the loss, the hurt, the pain.
And then there are the times you forget. You let your guard down and forget you don’t belong. You forget your second-class status, that you are less than. You forget you are Black and the pain and hurt cuts even deeper when you’re not expecting it. And then there are the times you’re not even sure, it is the insidious nature of racism. Is it because I’m Black she closed the register when I walked up? Am I being too sensitive? Did I misread the situation? Am I being defensive?
These losses are experienced as hurt.
This pain is an emotion, a feeling that literally hurts. When it happens to you sometimes it is accompanied by a deep sigh, a feeling in your body of sadness. A shrug, lowering your head. An “oh no here we go”. Your body is registering it, acknowledging the pain. The societal aggressions and hurt are as valid on the emotional level as on the physical. This hurt is a pain in your heart. This hurt is a bullet to your psyche. There is no way to process the hurt feelings, the pain. Tears are seen as weakness. You learn to numb yourself to it and keep it moving. This is where our culture works against us. But our culture is made up of 400 years of this stuff. We have never had the time or the space to feel hurt or feel sad or feel grief in a healthy way. If our hurt and pain were to be expressed visually-we would be walking around bent, bloodied, and broken. Our first car should be an ambulance.
You must be aware of where you are and be on your guard at all times. We are preoccupied with surviving
Some examples of the forethought and preparation it takes to be Black in America. An average day in the life:
At the department store: can they see my hands? Did they see me put that shirt back? I should have a smaller purse.
At work: I got to just ignore that joke about Kap taking a knee or I might risk alienating my fellow team members, or I must remember to be silent when my boss starts rapping and uses the N word-cause it’s in the song you know. Must pretend I didn’t see that email about the Obamas
Getting stopped by the police-ok take a deep breath, put my hands on the wheel, don’t make sudden moves, smile, and be compliant-remember no attitude!
Training our children- do’s and don’ts in an effort to save their lives, so they come back home after a trip to the corner store.
This preparation and thoughtfulness take time and energy. It takes a lot of energy to be Black in America. Energy spent protecting your job or your integrity, your freedom, or your life. It is stressful. it is onerous, heavy and stifling.
Racism breaks your heart
How much emotional energy do I have to expend every day trying to accurately read every transaction with a white person or police? How much?
The stress, the uncertainty, the hurt. What is the toll?
On my spirit, my body, my mind, my heart.
What was the daily toll on my father, my mother, my grandparents, and their parents?
How long has this hurt been in our bodies? How many generations have carried this burden? The hurt carried in our genes through years of living with the threat of violence, separation from loved ones, the memory of enslavement, physical and sexual abuse, the denial of humanity. It lives with us still.
PTSD has been passed on in my DNA. Trauma experienced over generations has to exact a price. When we have stressed our bodies react and release toxins-chemicals in our bodies meant to help us survive. The toxic chemicals that create flight, fight, freeze response are right at the surface in my people’s bodies. Adrenaline on tap, always on alert for danger or attack-physically or emotionally. The more time spent in this vigilant state, the more these toxic chemical responses release in our bodies. The chemistry gets ingrained in our bodies and our brains. Our reactions become automatic, without thought or feeling. Generations of Blacks have been walking on eggshells around whites trying not to draw their ire or worse. Living like this is hard on the body and dampens your spirit.
Is it a wonder why Blacks have certain serious health issues? Trauma that is experienced over and over is a silent killer. PTSD, it makes one hyper-vigilant, causes flashbacks and night terrors, irritability, depression among other symptoms. We are just now validating the toll that PTSD has taken on our military, but I am willing to bet there are 8-year-olds in my community with the same symptoms. Living in a racist country is inherently unhealthy- tension and stress are a constant companion.
Author Caroline Myss said, “your biography is your biology. I take that to mean the path you walk, the experiences of your life reflect upon and create, your physical health, or lack thereof. The body remembers your life experience.
The biography of “Africans in America” as Chicago Activist Lou Palmer used to say, is a tragic one.
It was his way of reminding us that our ancestors were taken from their homes by way of mass abduction and enslaved. We were used and abused to build a fledgling American economy.
Our people’s biography is one of slavery, family separation, cultural degradation transitioning to cultural misappropriation, oppression, financial exploitation, prejudice, humiliation, rape, violence, and murder. For a century after century after century after century in America: this is the biography of Africans in America.
400 years of this traumatic biography, generation after generation experiencing everything just this side of genocide; What biology, what type of physical health would you expect this group of people to have? How would that history sit in the bodies of a people living it? Social factors have contributed to detrimental health factors for Blacks. Social Conditions like chronic unemployment, poverty, limited access to healthcare, food deserts and environmental racism. High infant mortality rates, early onset of hypertension, diabetes, cancer,heart conditions exist today across all economic classes of Black America. No matter how much money you make, America will always remind you that you are Black.
These are the biographical remnants of slavery and oppression-they are the realities that live in African American’s biology today.
If your biography is your biology, then
Blacks in America should be on life support.
But we’re not! In a testament to our ancestors-We Rise! We endure and will continue to offer our gifts to this nation. We will continue to model forgiveness (we won’t forget though) and love and acceptance. We stand upon the shoulders of a people who built this country period.
We will continue to offer our considerable skills and abilities to make America work for everyone. If we are given equal opportunity and fair treatment, we will excel. We need the resources and time to heal. We need the institutions of this country to rectify the ills of the past. We need mental health support specifically for our community. This minute, we need a federal strategy to combat the pandemic down to neighborhood levels with commensurate funding. Let’s see the administration move as swiftly and effectively as they cleared the streets for his photo op. (Sans the tear gas and beatings please.)
Some actions I pray this administration is taking to target Black and Brown populations disproportionally affected by the virus.
- Increased access to accurate, rapid results testing, housing for isolation of infectious and undetermined testing status individuals,
- Specific plans/protocol for every type of congregate housing, ie. jails, prisons, nursing homes, assisted living, shelters, etc.
- Use of the Defense Production Act to immediately produce PPE and hand sanitizer to meet and exceed current demand. These items must be made available to the public and private sectors at pre-pandemic prices. This act must include hiring from affected communities and sourcing from certified African American owned suppliers.
- Lastly, be prepared to execute a strategic plan for the rapid distribution of a viable vaccine. Establish priority populations, order appropriate quantities of syringes, vials, and alcohol wipes. bandages-any supplies necessary to deliver a shot or nasal vaccine. Use DPA if necessary. This is in addition to the seasonal flu vaccine supply.
- Plan for training and delivery of vaccine down to zip code levels across the country.
So my white people, please put on your glasses, see what is coming into focus at this time.
Clean your lenses of the film of your unearned privilege that fogs up your view. Please include in your vision for the future – an America that lives up to its creed. Act with the clarity of a people that don’t stand by while Blacks die disproportionately from Covid19, or as you overhear someone dish out microaggressions or as a handcuffed unarmed man is killed by cops in the street in Minnesota. Please have a fierce vision that finally ends the legacy of racism even if it means you must give up something.
Let us all have focus and clarity on equality and that the children born in 2020 will never see the country we have today, but rather they live the vision of a fair and just society we create today, in 2020, with the perfect vision, for a more perfect union.
©2020 Terri L. Gardner All rights reserved. This writing may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form without express permission from the author.
