From the Ashes

In a week that has encapsulated a lifetime of oppression, violence, intolerance, and systemic racism, our nation is now being forced to come to terms with even more of its inherent failures. Covid-19 exposed economic and healthcare issues (and everything those infrastructures embody and branch into), and the cruel and inhumane death of George Floyd in a community so close to our own, has turned the spotlight once again—and more brightly than ever—on the extreme abuse of authority that is (and always has been) so deeply ingrained in our country.
The anger and frustration displayed across the nation—and the world—comes as a result of a continued refusal to acknowledge and rightfully address these abuses of power. Rebellions have sparked public outcry and demands for justice persist every day across the country.
None of this is likely news to anyone, as thousands of articles, videos, and reports have flooded social media throughout the week. And for the regular readers of this column, what I have to say next in regards to all of this, will likely come as no shock; even if it does, however, I make no apology:
It is a privileged position to pass judgement on the reactions of a community, while making excuses for the organization that is responsible for its inception. The heinous abuses and lack of humanity displayed in police forces all over the United States has been prevalent and exceedingly evident for decades, with no remorse or reform in sight.
You can’t stop a fire from spreading without extinguishing the flames from the source.
To decry protests and rebellion in all of its forms, in lieu of acknowledging the cause, shows an incredible indifference to the sanctity of human life, as well as perpetuates the idea that profit and property hold more value than real, living people. Businesses and buildings are insured, protected; but the people of this country—especially minorities and the black community—are VERY clearly not. Certain statements and actions displayed over the past week, have exhibited just how extreme the total disregard for human life is in America today.
The protests (in all their forms) are legitimate. The reason behind them is legitimate. The response to them? The exact reason the protests exist in the first place.
To see people attempt to defend and justify the violent methods used by police officers to disperse or control crowds, while using looting as an excuse to invalidate protests, because it’s “violent” and “harmful,” further makes clear just where priorities lie in our nation—and it is not with the people. Small businesses aren’t dying because of any of this. They were already dying and for reasons that existed long before the past week. And the statement in regards to looting reiterated so grotesquely by the President (“when the looting starts, the shooting starts”) proves beyond a shadow of a doubt, that condemning looting and condemning protests, is simply another excuse to advocate death. Condemning looting is just another excuse to kill without consequence—another excuse to abuse power. A vicious cycle.
Peace has proven ineffective, each and every time this happens: Taking a knee wasn’t acceptable, marching in the streets wasn’t acceptable, no “peaceful” forms of protest have been accepted OR acknowledged thus far in our history. And that is because there is NO “right way” to protest oppression. When you are protesting against an inherently corrupt and broken system, that system is—of course—going to take issue with it, no matter how it is handled. Violence is disgusting and abhorrent, but peace has thus far, been utterly ineffectual. The solution is likely in neither, but complacency with one or the other, will render no progress.
“Try everything until something changes,” seems to be the only solution.
It’s awful, but it is the reality we currently face as a nation.
Idealism won’t get results, because people aren’t idyllic creatures.
If money is all that matters, if profits are more valuable than people . . . then looting makes sense. If the only way to be heard is to hurt the bottom line of corporations that indirectly run this county . . . it makes sense. But that should not be the focus of this movement, of this rebellion. The reason behind it is clear and legitimate: No more injustice. No more abuse. Black Lives MATTER.
Better buildings than bodies.
Better businesses than black men and women.
People > Profits.
People > Property.
People, period.