There’s a gigantic disconnect between what many white people think is or isn’t happening to Black people and what most Black people in America experience.
Here’s a significant reason why.
Virtually every time someone points out the deep systemic racism that pervades many aspects of society — in housing, education, policing, health care, access to healthy food, and so on — a common response is to research with the intention of disproving that our vast racial disparities are connected to race issues or the deep unconscious bias we all suffer from.
This latest cadre of racism deniers comes in the form of fighting so-called “wokeness.”
I don’t care much for the term, but if being woke means fighting unjust systems, then I suggest the racist deniers drink more coffee.
For them, unless someone shouts racist comments or verbalizes their xenophobia in favor of a policy, behavior, or system, it can’t possibly be racist. Unless a law states on its face states that it’s racist, it can’t be racist, right?
We Google and Google in search of the articles and studies that prove what we already thought. The Internet is a big place, so I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for.
As with most things, seemingly unlimited so-called studies support one’s pre-existing worldview. All with flaws, of course.
There’s one study, for example, that shows there isn’t a disparity in police killing of white versus Black people. And yet another study shows that when it comes to unarmed Black people, the racial disparity is profound.
But how many of us take the time to get to know our Black brothers and sisters? Our coworkers and neighbors? The people we see in coffee shops, grocery stores, sporting events, and the like.
How many of us include people who are Black, Latino, Muslim, or Jewish in our intimate circle of friends?
How many of us have spent the time actually asking affected people about their experiences?
Would you still argue against the prevalence of systemic racism in our police if nine out of 10 of your Black male friends described being pulled over by cops and asked to step out of their vehicles at some point in their lives? What if it was 19 out of 20 of your Black friends?
How would it impact your thinking if you learned firsthand from your many Black female friends that they’ve been treated like a deadbeat at a bank?
Would you feel differently if you learned that Black parents must spend an insane amount of time training their kids on what precisely to do if they encounter the police? I never had to have that talk with my kids.
I wonder what you’d do with the information if you learned that numerous Black people have called apartment complexes to inquire if there were available units, only to show up in person a half hour later to learn those available six units were magically rented in record time. Funny how that keeps happening when Black people call.
If you had actual Black friends and discovered that they’ve been followed by store personnel more times than they can count, how would that change your perspective?
You see, it can’t be that the Black experience in America is this lopsided in real life, but your Googling of articles says it ain’t so.
Black people aren’t lying.
Get to know people; learn about their joy and pain. Learn about their fears and laughter. And then proceed with the empathy all people deserve. It turns out all lives do matter. Let’s include the Black ones in that proclamation.
Follow “Jeffery Kass”
Written by:
Jeffrey Kass
