| About this protest against the police department that took place today. Let me just say that I have a real problem with this. Now before you read this, recognize that this is my opinion. And regardless of whether you percieve my views to be insensitive or unsympathetic I am still entitled to it. I don't have a problem with the protest itself. It's the overall mentality and approach that pisses me off. And frankly, I'm a little embarassed by the actions that have been taken by the organizers of this protest.
There is some serious racial profiling and discrimination going on in the Rutgers Police Dept here in Newark and there has been for many years. There is no disputing that. But the problem goes much deeper than some girl possibly getting called a 'nigger' by a white police officer one night. These people are so small-minded it disgusts me. First of all, the protest was a joke. People were not marching together on one accord towards a unified goal. Half of them didnt even know the whole story. What I saw was a bunch of scattered black people chanting different things. Some were posing for pictures, others were looking off into space, some were standing in front of police cars shouting profanities and racial slurs. And then there were the blacks like me, who purposely took the long way to class to avoid this spectacle. But isn't this just a snapshot of the black American community as a whole? The 'hood mentality' that separates the rowdy blacks into one group and the 'holier than thou' attitude that separates the blacks who are only concerned with bettering themselves (and ashamed of the rowdy blacks) into another group? Where was the unity? And what the hell was the purpose? Because if your sole purpose for being there was because your friend got arrested and insulted, then you could have just filed a complaint and taken that cop to court. And if your sole purpose for ignoring it was because you think that it doesnt affect you, then your diluted too. This problem goes so much deeper than what the people marching today were about. Just because your shouting doesnt mean your saying anything. Its just noise and no one listens to that. If you want to affect change you have to get beyond small-mindedness and view the issue as a whole. And to me, if they were really serious about it, every single Rutgers student would have known about this protest, whether they knew this girl or not, whether they were black, white or something else. It would have been organized and conducted in earnest. There would have been a dress code and a certain statute of decorum. You wanna stand in the street in your north face screaming obscenities? Your challenging the administration of Rutgers University. You come correct, look official, and assemble peacefully. You organize speakers, you march with your heads held high, you shout in unision, and you don't perpetuate the same racial stereotypes that you are protesting against. The fact is, a black person can call a white person whatever they want and treat them any way they please and white person is not permitted to have a problem with it without being labeled as racist or intolerant. You think you've earned the right to degrade white people because of slavery? And to every black person out there who struts around calling other blacks 'nigga' and then have the gall to get mad if a non-black calls you that...you need to get a clue. You can't command respect when your everyday actions show that you don't even respect yourself or your race for that matter. Everytime we use language like that to address one another, we are proving that we don't take the issue of racism seriously. And I'm at fault as well. Up until recently, I used language like that to be funny. But there is nothing remotely funny about it. Its a reflection of the racism that is so overt and rampant within our own race. The notion that only a real black person can call another black person 'nigga' is rediculous. No black person that is about being real would ever accept such degradation from within or from outside of our racial lines.
Too much of what we do is divisive. Blacks are much better at tearing each other down than at building each other up. Where is the unity in criticizing your fellow blacks for using proper English and being upwardly mobile? American born blacks, and Carribean blacks, and African blacks don't like each other. Blacks are killing each other everyday in America and the same is true on a much larger scale in countless African countries today. Where is the unity in that? Jews, and the Irish, and other races have moved on...why can't we? Because our skin is darker? You can stand on your soapbox and preach about how racism still exists and is holding back black people in America. Racism has always existed and probably always will in this country. But you stand tall, refuse to tolerate that ignorance, and justify every opportunity and right that blacks before you fought to earn for everyone. You don't fight ignorance with ignorance. You face it head on with knowledge, education, success, pride in your culture, and respect for all of humanity. Blacks are a sizeable population in this country and all over the world. We could make the earth shake if we were united. What are we doing about our much less fortunate counterparts in Rwanda, the Sudan, Nigeria, etc? They get slaughtered in the millions because of their physical features and/or religious preference everyday. And your mad because some white lady followed you around a store to make sure you didnt steal or some white boy thought he was hood and called you 'nigga?' The way I see it, you don't really have so much to complain about in comparison. And so far, all we've done is prove that as a race, we can't get very far given opportunity and freedom. Playing very nicely into that expectation of collective failure, aren't we?
So the next time someone wants to come at me and ask why I didnt join 'the cause" today, you better be able to tell me that the cause is about something greater than an underage, intoxicated girl getting her feelings hurt; that you've done your research and you know that the problem is with the hiring procedures in the police department and the policies of upper administration; that regardless of whether this cop gets fired, the issue is still clear and the ball doesn't stop rolling there. You want to call me racist against my own kind? Do your history research. Blacks enslaved blacks before the white man ever got to Africa. And mentally, many of us are still enslaved by our own unprogressive way of thinking. You can't blame the white man for that.
And one more thing...her rights were not violated! I'll allow kanke to elaborate on that.
I would also like to thank the key players of this demonstration for making me feel even less safe in Newark. Because apparently any black can cry 'He called me a nigger' and cause a damn commotion. The assumption is that its automatically true and the burden of proof is automatically on that white person. But who is out there protecting those police officers (and other whites) from false accusations? I think we need to be careful of persecuting the very people who have chosen to serve and protect us. They are flawed, they are human, and should be prosecuted if they violate our rights. But this all amounts to her word against his. Irregardless of whether or not they fire this officer, please believe that no RUPD officer will be sticking his or her neck out to save my behind (or yours if your black) in the future. |
