Dear Reader,
Your differences were never intended to become a label. The color of your skin was never intended to change the way others looked at you, esteemed you, nor the value they put on your life. Yet they do. The simplest of differences have created a daily battle for equality and justice, and for what reason? To satisfy an empty desire for power, pride, or perhaps both? I am raging through your world right now, but I never asked to be here. You brought me here. After all, it was your ego that created me, was it not?
I did not arrive in your world by happenstance, I am a direct result of your greed. Your unwillingness to care for others with the same diligence as you care for yourselves is the reason I exist. I digress, this letter is not to be of my conception but rather your responsibility to terminate my existence.
A man named Micheal Kimmel gave an incredible speech in 2015, in which he discussed race and gender. He told a story of an experience he had in college, as a result of this experience Mr. Kimmel began to realize that gender and race had a daily impact on his life, he discovered his privilege. You have privilege, each one of you reading this. Each one of you has a different type of privilege, once you are aware of this you can come to realize that not everyone has the same privileges that you are blessed with.
For a white person one of your privileges lies in your invisibility. Your race is not inherently seen as criminal. For black people in America this does not seem to be the case. You see, despite less than 1% of the black American population being incarcerated, this race is frequently seen as “thugs” or “criminals”(bop.gov, census.gov). It might shock many of you to discover that 58.2% of inmates are white, yet in American society blacks are often seen as dangerous and criminal (bop.gov). These biased stigmas have cost innocent people their lives. You have stripped humanity away from an entire population based on the corruption of less than 1% of that population. That makes you no better than the 1%. You are asking this community to understand that not all police officers are corrupt, yet you refuse to understand that not all blacks are criminal.
Understanding is a two way street. Of the 800,000 police officers in America there have been 22,924 decertified for excessive force (USA Today). That is roughly 3.75% of police officers. The majority of officers are dedicated to protecting you and serving the public. This does not excuse the behavior of the 3.75%, but it does call to question the validity of aggression toward all police officers. Just as you want whites to understand that not all black people are criminal, police officers want you to understand that not all of them see you as disposable due to the color of your skin. There are police officers who stand by you, who want to bring your oppressors to justice. Just as you want to be differentiated from the 1% these officers want to be differentiated from the 3.75%.
There are some places which are making great strides toward improving situations within their police forces. States like Georgia and Florida have decertified thousands of officers for misconduct, and many other states are beginning to do the same (USA Today). Changes are being made, you must continue to grow in your understanding of one another in order to reach your goals of equality. Continue to strive to understand new perspectives and experiences.
Bystanders, you are the reason for my continued existence. Your very refusal to act or speak up has given oppressors the freedom to stoke fires beneath me. It is vital that you become involved in order for the chaos that consumes your world to vanish. I urge you to stop hiding from the injustices you see, you have the power to create change.
Perhaps the most important thing you must understand is that violence breeds violence. Again, I am speaking to both sides of this discussion. When one side lashes out in violence the other side will do the same. This creates a constant cycle of aggression, loss, death and heartache for all parties. However, I see the traumas that have gone on, I understand the desperation for a solution. This is a long fought war for men and women of color and you have not had the victories so long deserved.
Still, I implore you to open your eyes to the losses you are creating. You claim to act in the name of justice, yet justice is nowhere to be seen. All that can be seen in your world today is destruction and heartache. Your own people are suffering as a result of the riots and looting. Black business owners and black lives have been destroyed as a result of these violent protests.
Justice will come when both sides put down the guns. When whites learn to understand that skin color does not indicate character. When blacks understand that the majority of police are not inherently bad. When the world understands that equality for one race does not mean inequality for another. When people learn to love everyone equally. I long to see that day, don’t you?
Sincerely,
INJUSTICE
To watch Micheal Kimmels TED talk follow this link https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_kimmel_why_gender_equality_is_good_for_everyone_men_included
Other sources
https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_race.jsp
Letters Of Injustice 