A mother and two children are in the back of a car. As she looks in the rear view mirror, the children can see in her eyes the fear of her future. They question, what could this really come from? They turn their heads to a knock on the window to find their mother facing a gun. As tears fall down her cheek, they know to stay calm, but inside they are in a total frenzy as to what is to come. Shots ring out. Someone is crying. Someone is screaming. Someone is bleeding.
Bystanders are left in shock and in a panic. This is the life we live. The oppression of Blacks in the twenty- first century has escalated to the point of death in the street, to “fight the power” of the racial oppression, the movement was founded to allow the world to know that despite racism and oppression running rampant even today, the Black community will not be defined by these stereotypes. Taking these few points into consideration, I support the movement of Black Lives Matter.
To understand the movement itself, we must first understand the background, question if God is racist, understand the timelessness of Black and racial oppression altogether, and compare the oppression of centuries before to the oppression of 2012 throughout 2017. The Black Lives Matter campaign gained traction after a fatal shooting of an unarmed black teen by an armed police officer. The teen’s name was Travon Martin.
After Martin’s death, the year 2014 saw a rude awakening to the American public when a handful of well- known deaths occurred and saw the light of day, leaving the nation torn, sparking riots, and inevitably leading to more names on the list of the deceased. The list grows and grows with each passing day as does the movement itself. Each and every day, more and more people feel called to understand that when an unarmed man is shot by an armed policeman, it is simply unjust. This is one reason why I support the movement.
In a book, William Jones once begged the question: “Is God a white racist? ” due to the dire circumstances of the lives that we live and the things we all see on a daily basis. The era in which we live shows of Black poverty and white supremacy, Black slums and ghettos, and that through hundreds of years, they are still being prejudiced against. Despite the fact that for hundreds of years, there have been those who do, in fact break every stereotype ever set for the Black community.
However, seeing as the only headlines we have seen here recently have been, “Police Officer Guns Down Black Driver In Front Of His Girlfriend And Her Child,” or “Black teen shot 16 times,” or “Black child with BB gun shot by police in Columbus, Ohio,” it becomes relatively easy to believe that whatever supernatural, or celestial being that has our every move planned out, has picked and chosen His own side to cheer for. The answer to this question is that throughout time, there have been people who argued yes, or no, to the subject of God being “racist” or that Blacks (in general) do, or do not matter to God.
These people- right, wrong, or indifferent- when asked, use the Bible to back themselves up, although it says little to nothing on the subject of Blacks at all. What they generally say is that they want a better world for their children and their children’s children’s children. This, to me, is the reason why the movement itself will never cease to exist. What “God” is to these people signifies something much different to these people than they might think. “God,” to these people, signifies not an “object” even capable of picking and choosing sides, but a “being” only willing and wanting the good for all His creation; regardless of race.
This “God” is the God that believes that social injustices and legal disputes will come to an end and that there is a possibility of good coming from bad. Although if we were to use the Bible, we should say that whatever being does, in fact, “oppress” also gives rise to the same being that gives the grace to stand and fight the oppression in order to achieve a united nation, or even a united world, that can no longer be held down by the chains that suppress in general. Regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or background, we should all have the rights to life well lived.
Throughout the course of time, the oppression of Blacks has been a steady system of rise and decline; but I feel that in order to fully understand these “regimens,” we have to start at the beginning. The place where it all started was slavery. During the years of slavery, Blacks were forced into manual labor for white families on farms and in houses. Of the most common misconceptions, slavery was not only in the South. Slavery was for the majority in the South, although there were places in the North and in Europe.
The households were hostile for slaves and when they disobeyed those who were their masters, they were reminded unfortunately, relatively quickly who was the boss. Although slavery was one of the most undoubtedly downright embarrassing endeavors of the history of America, without it, we probably would not understand today why this cycle is so prominent, and possibly would not have racism at all. Nonetheless, all of the “free” citizens who live in America deserve the choice to be something, or to or make something of themselves.
Through slavery, we suppressed choice. And even now, we suppress choices in the Black community. We suppress the choices to make or break themselves, and the choice to run and play in the streets. Even now, we suppress the rights to stand alone at night without being picked apart by white bystanders. Allowing white supremacy to become a regular “idea” not just turning it into a belief system in which whites are superior is yet another sign of oppression in the “land of the free. ” The election of a supremacist himself (P.
Donald Trump) into office has become a sure fire sign to he communities of America, that this hell on earth is coming to fruition. Barack Obama’s “keep moving” attitude has since worn off and white supremacy is in full swing- with executive orders to ban travel from certain countries, Supreme Court cases not caring whether a Mexican boy shot on the Mexican side of the border by a United States border control police officer is the United States’ problem. These “free” people of the United States should not have to feel like it is a radical idea when it comes to justice being served now.
After the Civil War and Radical Reconstruction the South figured out a different tactic to take away Black’s rights. Then there was the Great Migration- where Blacks headed Northward to escape Jim Crow laws all together. Throughout American history- particularly Southern history- there have been spurts of action taken to lessen or increase Black’s rights, i. e. Marin Luther King’s March on Washington, the Walk from Selma to Birmingham, or the 1960’s peace, love and “rock n’ roll”.
The 60’s were a time of peaceful protests for equal rights, and even so, we cannot seem to figure out that peace and equality in this day and age, is the way to go. Regardless of these “spurts” or race in general, every citizen of these United States deserves the right to a good life and the opportunity to make themselves a good life. And through this supremacy becoming a way of life me a conceptual idea, we take their choices to make their lives different than others, away.
To “fight the power” of the racial oppression, the movement was founded to allow the world to know that despite racism and oppression running rampant even today, they will not be defined by these stereotypes. The Black community will be held down and stop at nothing to gain the rights that oppression takes away, regardless of race, social class, or even the president. There will end the madness that holds true to the free citizens of America. This is why I will forever support the movement of Black Lives Matter.
