Monumental Oppression

The Confederate flag and monuments are not simply displays honoring southern heritage, they are painful reminders to Black people that they are not welcome and certainly are not equal. They are a reminder that the South was willing to start a war in order to continue to enslave Blacks. They were erected to reinforce the societal belief that Blacks were second class citizens during the Jim Crow era and continue to fulfill that role now. I grew up in the South and I have never felt like the Confederate flag represented me, nor have I felt inspired by monuments of Confederate leaders. Monuments and flags are symbols intended to memorialize and glorify a societal ideology, and the people and events that bolstered its ideals. For the South that ideology was rooted in the dehumanization of Blacks and the glory of White Supremacy, and as such, their symbols can only represent the same.

In the seventh grade my mother moved from Memphis city to a neighboring suburb, Collierville. We went from a city that was 65% Black to a city that was 75% White. The change was most noticeable on my first day of class. However, being in a group of predominantly White people was not new to me. I played soccer for a team where I was the only black player, not just on my team, but on most of the teams in Memphis. I went to a church that was predominantly white. But in all of that time, I never felt entirely out of place. Collierville middle school changed that. It was the first time that I can remember seeing the Confederate flag displayed on apparel. It wasn’t just one person; it was a significant portion of the student body. It made me uncomfortable, and it made other Black students uncomfortable. Enough so, that parents complained and the school banned anything that contained images of the flag. From a young age, we knew this flag did not represent our heritage or pride. We knew it was not a symbol that was meant for us as Blacks in America.

Most Blacks would not perceive a building flying the confederate flag with a statue of Jefferson Davis out front as a welcome sign. Yet so many state capitols did just that. To this day we have seen the very people who lambasted us for taking a knee during the anthem, proudly fly the flag of those who wished to split this country into two and keep Blacks enslaved. Parents have had to explain to children that our society built monuments to honor men who did not see us as people. Black Americans have been forced to live in the shadows of these symbols of oppression, all in the name of preserving history.

These symbols are not our history. They are the history of those who sought to oppress us. It is time for us to put these symbols where they belong, in accurately written chapters of history books. It is time to build a new history and erect new monuments that represent all Americans and the people that fought to unify this country, not destroy it. It is time to honor the efforts of Black leaders who have pushed America towards the Democracy that it has always claimed to represent. It is time to create a new culture that includes Blacks. Tearing down confederate flags is a small but necessary step in creating that culture.

Can You Hear Us Now? Understanding Riots in Protests

It is difficult to expect lawfulness out of citizens when you allow lawlessness of the enforcers. Riots may not be the answer, but they get your attention, and that’s the point.

Over the last week, the country has been gripped by unrest and protests. Though most of these demonstrations have largely remained peaceful, there have been a few that have become violent. Stores, police precincts and cars, monuments, and other buildings have been looted, defaced, and burned. Bricks and other objects have been hurled at police. The demonstrations themselves have at times become riots. It’s important that during all of this we stay focused on what brought us to this point, police brutality.

The riots that America is experiencing are a response to years of oppression and violence that have been perpetrated against the black community by police and vigilantes. They are the direct result of the failure of our leaders to address the societal concerns of black people in America. In 2016 Colin Kaepernick took a knee to bring awareness to the mistreatment of black people in America. America’s response was, in the words of the current president, to “[g]et that son of a bitch off the field right now!” In response to the deaths and abuse of so many unarmed black people, we marched. Some of those marches created significant problems with traffic. In Memphis, one such march shut down the I-40 bridge connecting Tennessee and Arkansas. The resounding response was to condemn the marches for inconveniencing flow of traffic for a few hours. Black people in America have tried to be peaceful. We’ve tried to speak about injustice, but whenever the slightest inconvenience or pain is brought upon white people, our movement is dismissed as the “wrong way” of protesting. It is this inability to focus on fixing the root cause of protests that has brought us to this point.

Imagine needing to tell your significant other something important, perhaps that you need to go to the hospital. This person is currently located in another room of the house, and you call out their name. If they were to ignore you, you would likely raise your voice. If they continue to ignore you, you may yell, or call them, or text them, even throw something at their door, if you are incapable of moving. If that person continues to ignore you, you will eventually need to physically enter the room that they are in and tap them on the shoulder. These are all increasingly aggressive measures to get the attention of the person that you need to communicate with, much in the way that kneeling, marching, and ultimately rioting are efforts to get the attention of the American people and leaders.

Riots are a raw reaction to continued oppression and lack of action to protect and support the black community. And while riots may not be condoned as a response, they should be understood as a natural reaction to continued oppression. It is not reasonable to demand that each and every protestor respond perfectly (peacefully) even as the country continues to treat them imperfectly. We have seen peaceful protestors gassed and shot with pellets. We have seen them beaten by police and run over by their cars. We have seen police not only be the aggressors, but deliberately agitate otherwise peaceful demonstrations. We have watched as the President ordered governors to dominate protestors, both violent and peaceful. This is not the answer. If we want to solve the problem of riots; if we want to stop marchers from shutting down bridges; if we want to have people stand up and be proud to sing the national anthem; we have to focus on the problem, which is fixing the injustices that black people face each and every day.

We have your attention now. Please do not dismiss an entire movement and the societal problems it seeks to address because you disagree with the actions of a few.