Power to the people; those who have been marginalized (or worse), may they find we have made for them a more equitable world, a more just world, one fit for us all.
I was almost ready to let the moment pass me by. I’m just really quite willing to cede the voice of this movement to the affected persons, families, communities, to those who are so directly related as to know the pain of the issues most intimately. I feel this, still. What has changed is that I’d now like to add my voice to theirs; to be an ally in my own little way; to speak up, rather than remaining silent, however naive my well-intentioned thoughts may prove to be.
To preface, I recall having lived no experiences where the judgment of my character on that of my skin colour, and/or apparent socioeconomic level, and/or sex, gender, orientation, et al seemed to negatively affect me. To be certain, I am a white, privileged, well and easily-lived, cis, heterosexual male of such and such largely fortunate experiences, living in a time when all of these factors generally reflect well on me without my even having to try all that much.
Yes, this does effectively insulate me from feeling, first hand, what it’s like to be the victim of such ugly, unfair, inhumane treatment as what is wrought with the likes of racism. Fortunately, this alone does not mean that I am beyond feeling my own earnest sadness and horror.
It was upon second thought, reflecting on the idea of prejudice, and on the very nature of existence (which I am wont to do, but haven’t done in a while) that I could see, again, what is so maddening, so sad about all of this; to see what is clear to everyone who knows in their hearts and minds that racism, sexism, homophobia, et al, and any such ‘isms’ or worldviews which aim to paint some humans as ‘lesser than’ are wrong, immoral, and yuck, gross, more generally; get out of here with that garbage.
Such views are the height of ignorance, if not the very form of evil --it is abhorrent, wholly so. And it is wrong, holy-so --if our religious texts, paths, and leaders are worth anything-- to believe oneself to have the right to exist, to respect, to dignity, and then to deny these to other living, feeling human beings.
With respect to naming racism (to pick but one collective foe) ‘evil’, I should like to follow my impassioned choice of words with my belief that racism is almost completely due to ignorance.
Indeed, racism and such effects of ignorance come not from innate, healthy functions of informed, modern humans, but from persons having been raised on such and such assumptions and generalizations, fears and shared worldviews which have origins in and of times of earlier human development; beliefs whose foundations of understanding are further from the enlightening present, and the actual living humans, and nearer to when we and our project of civilization, and thus our useful understanding of the world, were still in infancy. Racists and such ignorant people are by no means evil. Most anyone who may be argued to be evil or bad are just otherwise good-hearted people doing bad things, because they have been led to believe bad ideas. I think it was Sam Harris who said as much; I thought this to be a fitting, appropriately-charitable way to look at the situation.
People don’t set out to become as to be perceived as evil, nor to be and become bad people. Instead, they try to live their lives according to their perception of the good, doing so in their own fashion (as everyone does), and along the way, they end up forging and/or following paths which define them, toward consequences which twist their perception of the world, and which inform/colour the perceptions others have of them. Thus, one day, they find themselves at odds with an evolving culture, hurting others, injuring themselves, and doing this without so much as an awareness of it, and it really sucks for all involved.
That’s the world that we live in, right now, I’d wager. We have good information, intelligent, compassionate people with good, helpful ideas, and these are placed within a “marketplace of ideas”, lost to an endless torrent of misinformation, disinformation, and the social media accounts of people and so-called ‘thought leaders’ who have adopted and/or now identify with bad ideas, and who believe themselves to be informed, and on the side of the good.
Climate change denial, unfounded pandemic skepticism, mindless conspiracy theories, and poorly-informed contrarianism, more generally.
*Biggest sigh in the entire world*
I truly believe that if people knew enough about the world, about themselves, about science, about existence, about nature, and their relation to it, and to all other living beings; and if they weren’t also limited by such and such belief systems which place arcane or contemporarily-divisive certainties in place of questions and more useful and/or correct wisdom, then people just wouldn’t be racist, and they would inevitably come to the conclusion that they ought to be kind, respectful, generous to human life, and to all life.
And in that benevolent wisdom --modern and timeless-- when life cries out for justice, it is the just among us who empathize where we cannot ourselves understand, and we support each other; as leaf looking out for ostensibly-disparate leaf, the tree of life answers its own cry, as only it can. The problem, hope, and resolution of any issue are intelligible only by the socialized animals of sufficient intelligence and awareness as to find themselves responsible for their own actions and inaction.
That is, when you’re smart enough to feel for your fellow humans, and people fill the streets behind the banner of Black Lives Matter, you do not seek to undermine or take issue with what is beyond the understanding of your immediate experience; instead, you say, hey, it’s better to have less human suffering than it is to have more; and then you live and speak and think as to make the world a better place.
If you believe your general intelligence is flourishing, that you’re learning so much about the world and yourself, and you still come to the conclusion that some humans are worthy of a casual hatred, a hatred which considers not their character, nor their innate worth as a human, as a living being, but, instead, simply their being unlike yourself, or their belonging to a particular group, then, no, that’s not a flourishing intellect.
If you’ve sought to educate yourself on the world, and you find yourself not with a perspective of compassion and love for, at the least, your fellow humans, then I would advise you to go back to the beginning, and to try again. Trust me when I say that life will be easier, more pleasant, if you get this right; simply put, the universe will be more willing to embrace you, with respect, if you treat it with the appropriate respect, in kind.
If you believe in a god, I assure you, despite what you may think you’ve heard, or what you may at this or any moment feel, your god does not want you to hate a single person, nor to deprive anyone of the benevolent love and kindness by which sentient, considerate beings ought to view and treat each other.
In fact, your god would be very proud of you if you said “thank you, but no thank you” to any persons, groups, or beliefs which frame others as inherent enemies, or recognize them not as family of our tree of life, not as friends, nor fellow humans, but as contemptible others, unworthy of our care.
And if you do not believe in a god, or in gods, then I hope you can find in the splendor of nature, in art, in culture, in the descriptions of science, and in the kindness and depth of your fellow humans enough purpose and reason to know that same truth; that hatred and prejudice are antonyms to the good life; and that you find, too, that kindness, justice, love and connection are forms of the good, features appropriate to the good life which each should be free to pursue.
If you find others to be hateful, you should love them, too (albeit, from a safe distance); though they are hurt and broken, and thus they spread their pain and dysfunction, they are not evil; they have found themselves in a sad, painful, unenviable state of mind, and I’m sure that if they had sufficient information, and enough peace and courage to earnestly consider their position(s), they would collapse into a pile of tears and emotion, longing for the beautiful sort of human life to which such understandings inevitably lead.
Urg.
On the one hand, it almost feels ridiculous to define, precisely (or so imprecisely as it may be), how, or why, or to what end I abhor racism and such obviously ugly social ailments, artifacts of the less progressive world out of which the present and the future flowers; on the other hand, when such a nerve is struck, and when multiple important social issues erupt in a boil (when people are dying); when vulnerable humans cry out for help, standing up for themselves, and for those who cannot, or will not --then the rest of us should probably take a moment to reflect on the world which got us to this point, and then upon the world that we would like to create for each other.
*big sigh*
When I imagine injustices, terrible and slight, upon innocent, living, sentient humans like myself; when I imagine the life of someone being limited for no just reason (or, frankly, at all); when I imagine people being made to feel less about themselves because of the inhumane, ignorant thoughts of others --and all this atop the regular difficulties of living; when I imagine the horrors (horrors!) of slavery, I am incensed at the thought that the colour of a person’s skin, or their sexual orientation, or anything natural to their own particular peaceful existence could ever be an argument against treating them like an equal, like a human, a life worth giving a damn about.
If that sounds a touch dramatic, please, try to understand --just because you don’t experience something, this alone does not mean that such experiences do not exist for others.
Segregation in the U.S. only ended fifty-six years ago. My father is older than that. And even then, that was only twenty-two years before I was born. Of course racism still exists, both the subtle form, as well as the overt, hateful sort that preys upon the innocent in the light of day.
It shouldn’t then come as a surprise that racism exists, still, latent in our systems, customs, and understandings; and, too, to greater or lesser degrees, within (we) the individuals who comprise civilization and her institutions.
Here are two easy questions; what race is worthy of hate, and what people ought not receive our compassion? The answer is that there’s only one race, the human race, and the only people born as to be worth our contempt are no people.
It’s bad enough that humans still treat many non-human animals as though they are not worthy of our care. It is so, so, so much worse, however, to see humans viewing other humans as lesser-than, as being fit for our hate, else a cold, uncaring shoulder, a blind eye to their injustice.
And yet, amid the sorts of transcendent realizations of peace and understanding which await only the informed and earnest contemplation of our own existence, and that of our fellow humans (and Earthlings)... still, people have to be sharing their racist epithets, earnestly believing it in their hearts, spreading their hurt, living that racist ignorance upon themselves and each other.
What the hell, you guys?
So, yeah, have some shame, please, if you cannot simply access your empathy; and then, in shame of what you do not yet understand, or in knowing solidarity for humans and life everywhere, do join the rest of the modern world in recognizing all humans as being worthy of the dignity appropriate to the human experience, that which each of us suffers in life and in joy.
Thanks, that would be great.
Where was I? Oh, yes, Black Lives Matter.
The facts of this movement seem to be thus: that a man was restrained, held down by the police, and that his neck was kneeled upon for eight minutes, forty-six seconds. And in that time before his death, as George Floyd pleaded for his life, as he said please, as he told the officers that he couldn’t breathe... in those eight minutes, forty-six seconds of a man politely begging for his life, three other men entrusted with the same authority and conventionally-understood role as protector, keeper of the peace (at least, perhaps to this naive mind of mine) stood by, and they did nothing to intervene, nor to voice their objection, nor even to proactively de-escalate the situation.
Worse still, it was only after a public outcry that any action was taken against the officers. That is to say, killing George Floyd didn’t seem to be a problem in the moment, nor after a preliminary review. Nothing was done until the people got loud and angry, and demanded --no, look at it, again!
Should intense public pressure be required for the police to be held accountable? No. It obviously shouldn’t be necessary. This is a disturbing realization we have been presented, and said realization appears to be our opportunity to do something about it.
It is the pain, fear, and anger natural to these facts, compounded by the endless frustrations of a great many who do not feel themselves served by the police, but, who instead feel threatened by them that we find our impetus to say Black Lives Matter, and to voice our support alongside those who protest to this end.
And the end to which we ought to move, as far as I can see, is substantial, good and useful police reform. Some places need this more than others, but all police departments could benefit from added training, accountability, tools and methods to better serve the public. Indeed, let’s recognize the reality of racism and such social ailments as they exist in the population, while concurrently redefining what it is to be a police officer, and redefining how it is that the police and the public interact.
I don’t care if the solution involves paying the police more. What I care about is more oversight, more training, more accountability, more of a focus on non-violent interactions being preferred to violent ones, and the dissolution of any groups or mentalities (and, crucially, the need thereof) which see police officers insulate one another from consequences. I want us to expect more of our police, I want them to deliver more, and I want to see us protect and love them as we would (and ought) all first responders.
When the ambulance is coming, when the fire engines can be heard wailing toward one’s home, precisely nobody is justified in worrying that they will be gunned down or wrongly incarcerated when the help arrives. To contrast that, depending on where you live, having an interaction with the police could well mean your death. This is not acceptable.
Insofar as the police represent the state’s necessary monopoly on violence and coercive force, we need to protect the population from the police; we must do so with training, accountability, foresight.
So too must we protect the police from succumbing to functional defects (the few bad apples spoiling the lot), and from deforming under the extreme pressures put on them, lest they become --as some might fear they already have-- at odds with the public, domestic soldiers against a hostile population.
We need a police for the people, rather than a police force against the people; the police need this, too.
If the police invest in tanks, then, in time, they will need more tanks, better armed tanks, as the public which they fight will adapt to the threat. If the police invest not in tanks, but in the communities which they serve, then, they may need no tanks at all.
Before I speak of the police, any further, I should note, threefold:
1. I tend to follow international news and politics, in addition to Canadian news, but I do disproportionately focus on U.S. news and politics for reasons that I’ll leave you to ponder,
2. where I live, in Toronto, the problems may not be as bad, and/or they may not be as visible, especially where those problems and issues are latent or otherwise unseen by someone the likes of me,
and 3. re: 2, re: my aforementioned naivete, and the privilege I have lived --virtually all of the interactions that I’ve had with police have been easy, positive, even funny; that is, when they see me, my disposition, my naivete, my way of speaking, they tend to give me the benefit of the doubt.
So, in a very self-centered, superficial view of this situation, could it not be (poorly) argued that this isn’t my problem?
To say this another way; If persons of colour are calling out for a reform of the police, such that the police stop killing, mistreating people, and avoiding accountability, should I, someone outside of the group who presently feels so-threatened, support their plight?
Absolutely, I should, because the problem is one of humans killing humans, and since we are all humans, a reduction in the instances and conditions of humans being killed could only ever benefit all humans.
If you live in a society that allows people to be cruel to women, for instance, even as a man, it would be imperative to change society such that cruelty is not put upon the innocent. For, if humans have it in their culture and in their minds that it is permissible to be cruel to any humans, then all humans are in danger of falling victim to that cruelty.
Consider having to care for some tigers. Assume in our thought experiment that you and the tigers have a rapport as healthy as exists between any competent tiger keeper and their tigers. Would you feel safer if the tigers are never fed barrows of human body parts, or, if the tigers are only fed body parts from humans of a skin colour of which you are not?
To answer my own ridiculous question, you are not safe if you are repeatedly entering a cage of tigers who are fed human flesh, full stop. Similarly, if we turn a blind eye to some police violence, but not others, and if we allow their militarization, if we allow them to escape accountability, if we allow them to identify as being in opposition to the public, and/or above the law, then we are still allowing the taste and propensity for violence, for corruption to develop within them.
Further, re: answering the call of support in the affirmative; what is less difficult, and more likely to succeed, 1. to wait until the deficient system (deficient because many feel disenfranchised, even if it’s not you) targets and/or disadvantages you, and then to fight to rally the whole world behind you toward surmounting the insurmountable, or, 2. to identify with other humans presently fighting for positive change, the world already rallying around them, and to support their process of change for the better, before the deficient system targets you, before the fire burning the commons arrives at your door?
Indeed, for more reasons than I will here enumerate, it’s clear that supporting humans fighting oppression and inequity is the smart thing to do, even if you're not among the group presently feeling the pain.
Just as ending the wars beyond our borders is necessary --despite our ability to sleep soundly as they rage half a world away-- because we make our own world safer when we end war, and our futures more secure; it is also necessary to fight for justice, and for the resolution of social issues beyond those which we presently face; for, when we make the world a more equitable place, we are only ever improving the conditions of the world in which we live, and of which the future will grow.
Simple, right?
Finally, if you’re a white person, or whatever, and you hear Black Lives Matter, and this sounds threatening to you, then I would advise that you reevaluate where you get your news and social commentary, because you are way off the mark. Indeed, it is BECAUSE all lives matter that we presently say Black Lives Matter.
To, however, retort “All Lives Matter”, and/or “White Lives Matter” is to be ignorant, and to sound ignorant and uncaring, if not simply woefully misinformed.
If Bill’s house is on fire, we don’t yell, “Save all the houses”; instead, we point to Bill’s house, and we yell, “Save bill’s house!”. Saving Bill's house doesn’t contravene the belief that all houses matter. To the contrary, saving Bill’s house is exactly how the care for all houses manifests.
Imagine how much of a jerk you would be if you approached firefighters battling a fire, and requested that they give the same attention to your own house --not because your house was burning, but by virtue of this suddenly pointless, empty notion that “all houses matter”. You would not come across well, and the firefighter would be loath to explain that it is because all houses matter that this house, and not that, is presently being given the attention and resources needed to put out a fire.
To, in the context of this movement, proclaim that Black Lives Matter, one does not undercut the notion that white lives matter. No, just the opposite; it is by saying Black Lives Matter, at a time when persons of colour, and those so affected, need our help that we demonstrate the truth that all lives matter.
In summation, to say Black Lives Matter (at this time) IS TO SAY White Lives Matter / All Lives Matter, and to say (in those ways which are obviously unhelpful) White Lives Matter is to sound like an asshole.
To be absolutely clear, if we improve the world such that persons of colour are less likely to be shot, killed, assaulted, there is no way that we can do that which won’t also reduce the likelihood of white people facing the same fate. The police won’t be reformed to only stop killing persons of colour, adjusting to the new order by killing more white people.
So, yes, cut the racist garbage, Black Lives Matter, and let’s go ahead and reform the police, to help the police fulfill their obligation to the people, and the principles of their profession.
We need body cameras on all public-facing police officers, and a system of accountability which is sufficient, both to allay the concerns of those whom the officers serve, and to maintain, and empower, and select for the integrity appropriate to the mission of these indispensable public servants.
If the police, everywhere, are reformed such that they are not protecting bad cops behind a notion of comradery; if they’re all wearing body cameras, subject to real accountability, and if they lose the militarized aesthetic and mentality, and instead, pivot to a role of compassionate keepers of the peace, then a new relationship with, and understanding of the police can be developed by the communities which they serve.
That’s where we need to go, and this is our opportunity.
The alternative is a continued divide between the police and the people, and this will necessitate further militarization, further division, further conceptualization of the situation as us versus them, rather than a people helping themselves live the good life.
Civilization, rare and precious --unless it is burned down, and a painful one that smells of bitter smoke is created from the ashes, this collective project of ours must be improved like a ship which is forever at sea. We must, like the fabled ship of Theseus, reform and improve our world, plank by plank, while also not letting the whole thing fall to pieces beneath the waves of time.
We have work to do, fellow humans, and a moral imperative to commit ourselves to its success.