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What a week.
The ongoing protests, combined with my active social media presence, have launched me into an unyielding movement that gives me energy. BlackLivesMatter and DefundThePolice seem like only the first two stops on this train of justice.
I’ve spent so much time reading tweets and watching videos of nearly every single police officer abusing their power (because the ones who don’t baton protestors upside the head passively watch the ones that do). It got me realizing how much work needs to be done to change our current system. It is not enough to simply charge and punish the cops. We must rethink our policing institution because not only is it now proven to immorally target the Black community for labor (read: prison industrial complex), it is also completely ineffective at maintaining public safety.
The Dancing Cops
When I see police line the streets and bludgeoning, shooting, gassing, spraying, arresting, and running over protestors, I realize that this is how people from other countries that we occupy must feel. It’s not just the regular military responses to civilians that are common to our peaceful protests, but there are also the propaganda videos. Some of you know what I’m talking about.
The videos of police playing soccer in a field of dirt with a group of brown boys that goes viral on the Internet. People then comment “Omg yes! Love our troops, love America!!! ❤️” and then never see the actual atrocities of war that we commit. The lame videos currently circulating the media of police and protestors doing the Macarena together are no different. Don’t fall for it. We are trying to defund them.
Honestly, even our crime dramas (Cops, CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds, Blue Bloods, Law & Order, etc.) can all be considered propaganda to maintain our current policing system. If you’re doubtful of this, consider how you feel at the end of any of these episodes. Do you ever feel good? Do you feel like there’s a chance for the bad guy to get better? Or are their crimes simply so heinous (albeit triggered by solvable social factors) that you don’t want to forgive them?
More questions: how often do the episodes end with the criminal being caught and arrested, or caught and killed in a shootout, versus caught and reforming? How often do the behavioral analysts cite the reasons for the criminal behaving a certain way and then work to change them? Or is it more likely that they say, “Hmm, he was a star baseball player that grew up in a poor neighborhood and his mother was a prostitute that abused him, so that’s why he murders prostitutes with a baseball trophy. Guess he’s gonna have to go to jail, and we’ll just add extra surveillance to poor baseball stars! [END SCENE]”
The Blue-Eye/Brown-Eye Racism Experiment
Even more of my time went into learning about Jane Elliott’s blue-eye/brown-eye racism experiment. If you haven’t heard of it, I cannot recommend it more. You can probably ascertain from the title what it will be about—she replicates racism in a classroom setting by instituting that blue-eyed folks are inferior to brown-eyed folks due to fake scientific reasons. This culminates in Explosive Arguments, Empty Defiance™, and White Women Crying.
Here’s a short clip from one of her experiments while she explains the analogy that the experiment uses:
It is intense, and you will feel uncomfortable. You may think it’s mean and unwarranted. Therefore, please watch it.
The full experiment can be found here. Another one appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show. Both are incredibly gripping and show how attitudes persist today.
I can even prove that things haven’t changed. During coronavirus, the main battleground for such ideological discussion is the Internet. I’ve weathered my share of battles on Facebook (Twitter and Instagram is mostly where I get support and knowledge). After browsing the dearth of reason and empathy that is the social media sphere, I’ve arrived at the following Three Archetypes of Racist.
The Equalist
“God made us all equal, so I don’t know what you’re complaining about! You’re not the only one that has it bad, you know.”
Doesn’t care about the issue they’re fighting for. Really just finds the opposition inconvenient and wants them to just shut up so they can enjoy their regular feed of cat pictures. Resorts to Bible verses or other tenuous moral fables when losing arguments. Usually believes that the opposition runs on a conspiracy theory, like setting up these protests because it’s an election year, or that “Black Lives Matter,” when converted into Morse code and transmitted across certain radio frequencies can actually shatter the human eardrum.
The Devil’s Advocate
“Well, racism is only one of many factors characterizing the postmodern zeitgeist, which Schopenhauer actually predicted in a moment of brilliance during his final defecation before dying. You’d know if you actually looked into the background of the word “racist,” which is a word coined by Southern Americans, who were all manipulated by Democrats during the secret carrot famine of 1865 into thinking that betting on horse races dictates human worth.”
Really just a brainless nitpicker who likes watching himself talk (and yes, “his,” because this one is almost always a man). Won a debate with his friends about free will by reciting Sam Harris quotes after hotboxing his dad’s car in a church parking lot. His ego was never the same. Thrives on Facebook, where lack of anonymity ensures that opposition (typically friends, family, and colleagues) will be polite in their disagreement and thus easier to tear apart with Kold Hard Fax. Consults the dictionary to understand personal feelings. Avoids Twitter, whose anonymity and crowdsourced shaming ruin his image. Also avoids Instagram, because he’s not very photogenic.
The Rationalist
“Like, if you’re trying to get someone to do something, you can’t yell at them. You have to go about it nicely. You can’t just yell at ‘em, y’know? I mean, think about how they feel.”
Mocks outrage at very easily explainable human behavior. Doesn’t realize when they have taken a side. Thinks fishing is a sport. Tell people to “chill out” at inappropriate times, such as when they laugh at something very hard. Typically good at sports and/or business dealings but not at long-term planning, pattern recognition, or listening to others. Believes that violence or intimidation wins arguments, which leaves much to be desired when interacting on social media.
Yes, this is me responding to him, and I am happy with my response (which is very long and 90% hidden).
The good news is that the flip side of this is true as well. I’ve reconnected with old friends by supporting their arguments in other comment threads, seeing them share petitions and donation funds, etc. A girl with whom I had an English class in high school messaged me after I responded to a post she shared about anti-racism resources for white people, and we caught up.
I’ve been more active in my friends groups, talking to them more often and sparking conversation with people I wouldn’t normally talk to. It feels like a community of Non-Black people are coming together to learn how to be an ally. Let’s continue to learn and do our best.
—Chuckry Vengadam (@churrthing)
Petitions You Should Sign
Resignation of Joliet Mayor Bob O’DeKirk for assaulting a protestor (on video).
Prevent Julius Jones’s execution—there’s compelling evidence that he’s innocent.
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