Eric gardner

We are telling people, that the lives of human beings do not matter, and it's not who you may think, when injustices like these make there way to the forefront.. The people who are no longer living , are immortalized and their humanity solidified. It is the man who kills unjustly who has been stripped of his humanity and is left to dwell in limbo. It is the unconscious act or the malice necessary to unjustly separate another from this plain that strips man.. So people such as Eric Gardner will live on through his given name and the men who will lead an existence and die being remembered by only his loved ones and the people with enough hate to prolong them ..

The fear on campus perplexes me for a couple of reasons, I find it odd that we can say we are a color blind society that has done away with racist practices, but the emergence of a Societal Organization on campus. The Order of the Black Lynx, respectfully referred to as Black Lynx.. I see prejudice, fear, and ignorance come to light when people question what it is black lynx does and how far they will go to get their point across. Ignorance comes from a lack of knowledge and history, to say we model ourselves after the Black Panther party which is a fallacy, but more importantly not fully understanding the purpose of the Panther party was not one of terror, but it is interesting that during the times of their existence when people were being hosed down and shit and killed, the expression of a black nationalist organization is torn down solely and White Southerners share no responsibility or blame .

Athletes and Protests

In response to the recent death of Eric Garner, who was placed in a choke hold by a police officer while he was being arrested, many athletes in the NBA have shown support by wearing t-shirts with the phrase “I can’t breathe” on them.  The altercation between Garner and the police officer was video taped by an onlooker and the tape shows that Garner was saying “I can’t breathe” after being placed in the choke hold.  This is a beautiful thing about the country we live in today.  We can all peacefully protest and stand up for what we believe in. 

            Kobe Bryant, one of the athletes who has worn one of these shirts, was quoted on ESPN.com saying, “It's important that we have our opinions. It's important that we stand up for what we believe in and we all don't have to agree with it and it's completely fine. That's what makes this a beautiful country.”  He brings a very important point to light, and that is that we all do not have to agree on the same topics.  What makes America so beautiful is the fact that one can stand up for what one personally thinks is right.  It does not have to be agreed upon by the American public.  The message here is that people need to stand up for what they believe in to change the culture we live in today.

            It is important for Americans to take advantage of the platforms they are given to speak out for what they believe in.  These NBA players are huge celebrities in American culture and are watched by millions of people weekly on TV.  What better way to stand up for what they believe in than wearing a t-shirt with a simple phrase on it?  These games are nationally televised all across the country.  It is brilliant.  These players have been using the gifts they are given and the opportunities they have to stand up for what they believe is right.  It is something so simple that can have a huge impact.

            We as Americans need to find the talents we have, and use these to change our country for the better.  We are being called to speak out against violence, and racism, and sexism, and so many other issues that plague our country today.  It is in our hands to eradicate hate and violence from the communities we are involved with every single day.   

Mike Brown shooting is controversial for a couple reasons . 1) we will never really know what happened, and 2) it never really mattered. Whenever there is black on black crime we chuck it up to life and survival of the fittest in impoverished areas, but when there is a racial incident in which power is abused or the illusion that power is abused we break out in an uproar. Let me be candid when I say, it never mattered to me what actually happened. There has been more than enough acts of domestic terror has plagued the lands of this country since Black people were free by legislation. So whether Darren Wilson was innocent or not, which he wasn't because albeit Mike Brown was audacious in his attempts to physically engage Darren Wilson, at some point , Mike Brown laid siege and raised his arms in the air. At that point all notions of danger should have been irradiated for a trained official, especially someone who is licensed to carry a fire arm. Darren Wilson murdered Mike Brown not because he was accused of stealing, but because in this day and age , it was justifiable .

Thoughts

Yik Yak has served as a place where cowardice acts and animus for other people can run ramped. This campus faces a long road to redemption as we try to turn this campus around. Rhodes is a school that was founded during the peculiar institution, in Memphis Tennessee, a highly racially charged area that was for slavery. Over the years we've seen racist practices and acceptance become apart of normal and accepted activity as it related to African American students. The first black student to arrive on Rhodes's campus was Colby Smith. A key organizer and never of the notorious group the invaders. As Yik Yak was identified as the Edsel and not the problem, The campus community was forced to look at self, and question did they contribute at all the the toxic racial environment that has been maintained since this Colleges's founding. W.E.B Dubois once said, a government cannot fail a group of people it was not designed to protect.. The true is same for institutions. An institution cannot fail students that were not in visioned by it's founders . If we are to truly tackle the problems we face as a community. We are to re work the very creed and standards by which Rhodes holds itself

Benjamin Watson’s Facebook Post

With the decision not to indict Ferguson police officer, Darren Wilson, New Orleans Saints football player, Benjamin Watson wrote on his Facebook the thoughts he had on this decision.  For those who have not read Watson’s post, I will add the link to his Facebook at the end of the blog, and I would strongly recommend the reading of his post.  This post brought about some controversy due to the simple fact that Watson is a Christian. 

            In Watson’s post, he walks everyone through his many emotions following this decision in Ferguson.  He has many of the same emotions the American public has from this controversy.  He tries to understand both sides of the spectrum, and this is important for many people to see.  He does not understand why violence is the answer.  Watson writes, “I'M FRUSTRATED, because pop culture, music and movies glorify these types of police citizen altercations and promote an invincible attitude that continues to get young men killed in real life, away from safety movie sets and music studios.”  He has an excellent point.  Why does the society we live in today condone violence and behavior that will only lead to death? 

            Watson continues to write about how police officers are called to be responsible for the power they have.  They are not supposed to abuse the power they have.  On the other side of things, Watson is extremely confused as to why the American public continues to disobey police officers, especially when controversy arising from police brutality is such a common issue.  These are just of the handful of emotions Watson writes about in his post. 

            Watson closes his post with a paragraph talking about how he is encouraged because Jesus and the Gospel give hope to mankind.  Watson says, “…ultimately the problem is not a SKIN problem, it is a SIN problem.”  Watson is absolutely right.  It does not matter the color of your skin, we are all sinful beings and we are desperate for help.  Watson continues to write, “BUT I'M ENCOURAGED because God has provided a solution for sin through the his son Jesus and with it, a transformed heart and mind.”  This is the main point of Watson’s article.  The human race as a whole, no matter what color or gender, needs to fight against sin.  The only way we as a people are able to do that is through Jesus Christ.  

https://www.facebook.com/BenjaminWatsonOfficial/timeline

Subtle Racism

Recently I read this article entitled “I am racist, and so are you” and in its first couple lines the author, writes, “Here’s the deal. Racism isn’t just guys in white robes and Paula Dean shouting racial slurs. Racism is subtle, racism is insidious, and our culture is so deeply steeped in it that it’s impossible to grow up in the US and not be racist. It’s a kind of brainwashing: a set of default configuration files that come with the culture. It’s a filter, built up from birth, that alters our perception of the world.” I believe the way that Shadoan describes racism is particularly apt. She very correctly describes its dichotomic nature as both a conspicuous and ever present accessory of American culture as well as a surreptitious and poisonous entity that continually and permeates our minds, or rather our subconscious, unnoticed.

The latter character of racism is what Shadoan talks about in this article and this is what I would like to discuss. Shadoan points out that racism is “a filter built up from birth, that alters our perception of the world.” Is this true? And if so, why is it true? Why are our perceptions in this so- called post racial America obscured and tainted by racism?  This filter as Shadoan calls it is not chosen by us but ingrained in us by an American culture cultivated and shaped by its history, a history in which black bodies were brutally oppressed, terrorized and carelessly eradicated for centuries  in the institution of slavery and where black and white bodies were segregated for many more years after that.

These two parts of American history---slavery and segregation--- are the reasons that, we, individuals born and raised in American society, have this racist filter. This seed was planted in slavery, tended and watered during segregation, and now blooms in today’s society. I say that it began in slavery because it was there that black men and women first became designated as “other.” They, with the darker skin and kinky hair became less than their white counterparts simply because they were different. They who once ruled their own lands became the oppressed and down trodden. With this new condition of life that was forced upon them in the New World, they became destitute and dependent on their white counterparts, shut off from the outside world and therefore ignorant of how it works, and reduced to the status of animal and therefore, deprived of all human rights and liberties. After emancipation, when they had suddenly been given all of the rights and privileges they had previously been denied, the effects of slavery still remained. They had not the knowledge to survive in an ever progressing America and so were once again left prey to their white counterparts. Their lack of education and know-how left them as they had been before destitute, ignorant, and dependent.

This image of African Americans--- destitute, ignorant, dependent--- persisted in the days of segregation. In fact, the stipulations of segregation strengthened this image. As we have discussed in class, segregation mandated that blacks and whites be separated in all manner of things, schools, buses, bathrooms, parks, swimming pool etc. This separation allowed these groups to dream up false truths about one another and forced them both to rely on popular myth about the other race rather than fact, hence the origin of stereotypes. Around this time, added to the image of the African American besides that of destitute, ignorant, and dependent, was that of the aggressive black man and the jezebel black woman. The former  used as an excuse to brutally murder the black man in the name of white womanhood and the latter used as a justification for the rape of black women. Though these images were untrue, whites, during the time of segregation, held on to them as fact because it was their only source of information in regards to the black race. They had not yet been granted the opportunity to speak with an African American on more than subordinate terms.

Although today, it is most certainly not unusual to see whites and blacks converse together, work together, play together, learn together, etc  the effects of slavery and segregation still remain. Its damage is done. Although a white girl talks and is friends with a black young man, she still tenses up and gets nervous when she passes another black man on the street. Although, I, a young African-American woman attend Rhodes college and receive the same education that all of my white classmates do, I am assumed to be on the custodial staff here by the white bookstore cashier. Although, I, a young African American woman  work just as hard or possibly harder than my white counterparts, I know that oftentimes I will be judged by the color of my skin and the stereotypes that have so long accompanied it rather than by my accomplishments and the things I have done to defy those stereotypes.  And although, a young man named Michael Brown had no weapon on his person, he was still deemed dangerous enough to shoot to death.

The implications of these statements are very bleak. If our perceptions of one another are still so subconsciously tainted by racism that we cannot see one another clearly even when allowed to interact on a day to day basis, will racism ever be cured?  Or will it ever remain just beneath the surface occasionally breaking free in hostile and violent ways (a.k.a Mike Brown, Renisha McBride, Treyvon Martin etc.)?

 Resources:

https://beingshadoan.wordpress.com/2014/08/15/i-am-racist-and-so-are-you/