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Why Black Oppression Is Everyone’s Fault (Soja Kureekkattili)

Published on 19 June, 2020
Why Black Oppression Is Everyone’s Fault (Soja Kureekkattili)
“Don’t argue with them. Don’t make sudden movements. Don’t reach or grab anything. Make sure they see your hands. Don’t run”. Before Black children in the U.S. learn their numbers and letters, they hear these survival tips. They grow up being afraid of any police encounter whether or not they’ve done something illegal. The cultural divide between the White and Black starts from childhood, and the enmity towards the other only continues to grow. In 1865, African Americans became liberated from the evil that was slavery, but were they free? It took a century before the Civil Rights Act was signed and Black Americans were free from the other evil that was segregation. Now, more than 50 years later, Black America is far from “free”. Black people may be legally considered equals but they are still prisoners to the stigma facing them. A stigma that paints them as drug dealing, dangerous, unlawful citizens that don’t deserve to be treated with respect when encountered. A stigma that black people continue to prove correct by being accountable for more than half of all U.S. murders and other crimes even though they are less than 15% of the population. The problem with America isn’t that black people are inherently dangerous or that all white people are racist. The problem is that a large majority of black people just don’t have the privilege of being able to choose between doing good and bad. Their options consist of doing something illegal or doing something even more illegal.

    “Criminal” is often associated with the image of a black person. This is why time and time again, African Americans are victims of systemic racism and police brutality. They are arrested and killed for crimes they may have never committed just because they look like they could have done something illegal. This is the case for Breonna Taylor who was shot 8 times by police officers because they believed she possessed drugs. This was the case for 12-year-old Tamir Rice who was shot in a playground by police officers who believed he possessed a firearm. This was the case for Ahmuad Arbery when he was shot by police for being the suspect of recurring break-ins. Crimes against Black people are justified by the belief that all black people must be dangerous. But the reality is, Breonna’s house was searched and no drugs were found, Tamir was just playing with a toy gun, and Ahmaud just wanted to go for a jog. Black people dying left and right for merely existing can never be justified but police officers continue to supply excuses for these innocent deaths. In the case of George Floyd, his criminal history is in no way justification for the slow, cruel death he was forced to experience and yet you will hear people who say he deserved it. George Floyd was brutally killed by Derek Chauvin who used the power of his uniform to suffocate a man in broad daylight. It seems some police officers have forgotten that they catch the criminals and only the Court has the power to decide how justice will be served. Countless events of Black people receiving the death sentence from police officers who reason that a person's skin tone makes them "suspicious" should not be forgotten.  Black people may be the cause of many criminal offenses but for many, it’s because they have no other option. They resort to drugs, robbery, and murder to survive. While everyone complains about all the crimes that black people commit, no one wants to actually help them. To support them so that dealing drugs isn’t their only source of income and stealing isn’t the only way to have nice things. American history has proven to be cruel time and time again for the black man and the only way to alleviate the wrongs of ancestors is to educate, support, and love Black America. Create more programs to pay for the needs of Black people, to give Black children opportunities for jobs, to teach them how to break the cycle of a life of poverty, crime, and lack of resources. We should pull Black people out of a cycle that they were forced into through slavery and segregation instead of killing off their population. No one should have to work as hard as the Black man to achieve something good on his own.

    The other problem is that “racist” is often associated with white people. But, while white supremacy is indeed a big problem, this is far from the case. The hatred and lack of respect towards black people is one present in almost all cultures that reside in the U.S.. Model minorities such as Asian Americans who were able to immigrate to the U.S. courtesy of the Civil Rights movements and the precedent it set for the Immigration and Nationality Act are also racist towards black people. Although it’s a Black movement that allowed them to prosper in America on work visas as doctors, nurses, engineers, etc and although they are also minorities of color, Asian Americans are hostile towards African Americans and continue to spread racism through their children. Racism can’t be solved if all the blame goes to White people because they are not the only ones racist. As British polymath Bertrand Russell once said, “Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd”. In this case, Asian Americans are the herd, and Black people, only a few shades darker, are outside of the herd. Asian Americans will complain about how people are racist towards them but still tell their children to stay away from the Black girl at school or clutch their child when a Black man walks into a room. They will complain about a White racist coworker but still tell their children to stay out of the sun or otherwise they will tan too much and look like a Black child. South Asian children grow up hearing derogatory terms such as “Kala” used in conversation when referring to African Americans. In particular, the Indian mentality that White skin equates beauty and success is one that strengthens the distaste towards Black people and their culture.  This might not have the same consequences of police brutality, but the hostility that Asian Americans show towards Black people is far from innocent. They are teaching a new generation of children to fear Black people and to ostracize Blacks. It’s easy to say all racists look like Derek Chauvin, but the reality is everyone's racist to a certain degree and the only way to overcome such a dark nature is to educate everyone, not just White people. If an Asian American child brought home a White friend or another Asian friend their friend would be welcomed, but if they brought home a darker friend with different textured hair, they would be subject to a conversation about how “we don’t associate with those types of people”.  Instead of banding together as minorities of color living in a country built on white supremacy, Asian Americans like other minority cultures have avoided their darker-skinned counterparts and that needs to change.

    Racism isn’t going to go away today or tomorrow because it’s immersed itself so much into all communities everywhere. Black people aren’t going to suddenly stop committing crimes. Police brutality toward innocent Black people won’t instantly end even with weeks of protest. But that isn’t a reason to stop fighting. That isn’t a reason to stop contacting government officials about creating changes in police conduct that needs to be reformed. That isn’t a reason to stop educating racist attitudes in minority cultures no matter how unwavering people are in their beliefs about Black people. Today, the country is disgusted by a white supremacist. Tomorrow, there could be a video of a Chinese, Indian, or Pakistani  that abuses a Black person. Don’t wait for other cultures to kill African American people before doing something to stop it. There is no reason to stop supporting and donating towards African American welfare programs and organizations such as the NAACP.  Americans shouldn’t only care about racism when a white man kills a black man. We should fight for black lives every day because only then the years of struggle for equality that Black people have endured will mean something. Only then will they accomplish what they’ve always wanted: For everyone else to value them too.


Soja Kureekkattil, Rochester High School (11th Grade), Michigan
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sayeep 2020-06-19 22:08:04
Talking about racism -Asking for a female of color for VP is racism at its core
Jose 2020-06-20 08:43:26
Well researched and informative article. Congratulation Soja. Please keep writing.
George Puthenkurish 2020-06-20 18:41:48
America's future is secured in the hand of the younger generation growing up here. And, that is what I felt when I read this article written by this young lady. My generation immigrated to this country are still not free from the racist thinking which we brought with us. India is rooted in racism because of its class system and still, people are influenced by it. There are politicians and religious leaders fanning the flame of it to safeguard their vested interest. It is very encouraging to see the younger generation taking leadership and trying break the vicious cycle of racism. “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.” (Martin Luther King Jr.)
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