A Knee On The Throat

Today at work a man asked me what I was doing to battle systemic racism in America. That question cut me to the quick, because really I have done nothing, except share Facebook memes. I told him I support BlackLivesMatter, but what does that mean? This past weekend I spent most of my time inside, savoring the air conditioning, while all around the world people were protesting, some getting roughed up.

All of this started, of course, with the death of George Floyd. His death, by asphyxiation, was an enactment of the metaphor--the black race in America has had a knee on its neck for 400 years. This time, the cop responsible was almost immediately arrested and charged with murder, the other three cops were eventually charged with aiding and abetting. But whether this heinous man is convicted or not, the tinderbox was lit.

For years now these incidents have highlighted America's horrible record on race. We may have had a black president, but it's still unsafe for a black man (or woman) to come in contact with police. "Driving while black" is still a thing, and as long as policeman like Derek Chauvin, who had numerous reports of brutality on his record, are allowed to suit up, we are still behind the eight ball.

What may be different this time is that except for the most callously racist, like the President of the United States, is the universal condemnation of this murder. People may finally be saying enough is enough. Protests in almost every major city have put this front and center. And while looters have colored this protest--and of course conservatives focus on them--the overall tenor of these protests has been peaceful.

I don't know what the answer is. Better training of police would help, as well as weeding out bad apples like Chauvin, but how do we stop the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, shot by white supremacists as he was jogging? For one thing, we can go back just a few years to when these kind of human trash were considered despicable, before Trump called them "very fine people," while condemning protesters as "thugs" (a thinly veiled code word for black men). But these ignoramuses will continue to be out there. What can we do?

Keep taking to the streets, I suppose, until everyone gets the message that this behavior will not be tolerated. And we need a court system that will deal harshly with these miscreants. Chauvin must be convicted, unlike the cops who beat up Rodney King over thirty years ago. Arbery's killers must be given the ultimate penalty, which in Georgia is the death penalty. If a few of these crackers fry, maybe there will be a fundamental shift in thinking. Of course some will martyr them, but these lunatics will be few and far between.

So what am I doing to battle the systemic racism in America? About all I can do is write in this humble blog. This, I feel, is more worthwhile than Trump having protesters teargassed so he can stand in front of a church he doesn't go holding a Bible he does not read.