History has its Eyes on You

The devil grows inside the hearts of the selfish and wicked

White, brown, yellow and black - colour is not restricted

You have a self destructive destiny when your inflicted

And you'll be one of Gods children and fell from the top

- Dance with the Devil by Immortal Technique

I, like so many others, have been looking in horror and concern at what has been happening in the United States for the past week. In an already stressful period, the senseless murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer set off a wave of protests and movements across the nation. Along with the peaceful demonstrations, there were violent ones as well, with widespread looting occuring in metropolitan areas. This naturally led to police responses, which have ranged from mildly aggressive to full on attacks. Needless to say, the state of affairs is frightening, and is another ingedient in the sour mixture that has been 2020.

I've thought about this piece for a long time, and I've thought about how I was going to get my thoughts across to you, the person reading this, because for the most part, they have been a jumbled mess. However, I think I can narrow down my thoughts on three key parts of the overall issue:

1. #BlackLivesMatter

Black lives matter - end of discussion. It honestly astounds me how people feel attacked and offended by this statement. Yes, obviously, all lives matter - literally no one is saying anything to the contrary. However, by using this as a response to the #blacklivesmatter movement, you are simply detracting from the main problem. The statement is not intended to start a confrontation, and no one is saying that other lives matter less or that black lives are the ONLY lives that matter. It's not an attack on other communities or other races - so why are you treating it like one?

The African-American community is the one that is at risk from random bouts of police brutality, and they are the ones that need our support now, more than ever. How many lives will have to be taken before people realize that there is a legitimate problem with the way policing works in America? How many more will have to die before people acknowledge that the African-American community are suffering the most? It's like this: there are two houses: one is is on fire, and the other has a minor issue. Now, do all houses matter? Sure. But which house deserves more attention immediately? By saying that the house on fire needs more attention, are you saying the other house doesn't matter? No.

Yes, all life matters. But right here, right now, black lives matter. This movement matters. It's important to not lose sight of that.

2. What Can I Do?

There are so many ways to contribute to the movement, outside of going to protests yourself. It's important to not shame anyone for not going out and protesting - let's not forget that we're in the middle of a pandemic, and going 0utside is still risky, no matter what. However, donations to organizations are always a great way to show your support, and if you find yourself in a financial squeeze that makes it difficult to donate money, you can always contribute in other ways: there are several streams that you can play on YouTube that allow you to contribute even without donating money directly. Please follow the intructions given in the videos above. Organizations that need your support can also be found in the descriptions of several of the videos I've hyperlinked.

Another thing that I feel is important is having the tough conversations at home with your family and your friends about this issue, and about systemic racism in general. Not discussing it and not talking about it simply because it 'doesn't affect you' or its 'not your issue' is just shoving away the problem because its uncomfortable to bring up these issues. But guess what:

Racism is uncomfortable.

Being discriminated against because of the colour of your skin is uncomfortable.

Being looked at with suspicion and fear simply because of what you look like is uncomfortable.

So I enccourage you to talk about it, in whatever capacity you can. When I brought up the subject with my parents, it was emotionally draining for me, and I will admit at several points I felt frustrated, either because of a point being made, or the entire situation in general. However, it felt good to not sidestep the issue on the basis that it was a touchy subject. It never hurts to acknowledge your privelege, and use it to support the causes that matter.

3. My Personal Thoughts

Obviously, it's great that Derek Chauvin and the three other policce officers who were with him the day George Floyd was murdered have all been charged - all we can hope for now is for the justice system to follow through. However, I will admit, I am very skeptical of this happening - after doing research on qualified immunity, and actually reading some of the judgements that the court had delivered, as a law student, I was utterly baffled by the doctrine, and terrified at the implications that it presented. I won't get too much into legal jargon here, but for the uninitiated, the modern interpretation of the doctrine essentially states that as long as a situation that is extremely similar to the instant case hasn't happened before, the officer in question cannot be charged for it. Naturally, this means many cops get away with blatantly violating constitutional rights simply because they were the first to do so. Qualified immunity needs to be abolished, and police officers need to be held accountable for any wrongdoings that they committ. (if you're interested, here is a guide that explains it in detail)

Despite the current state of affairs, however, I desperately hope that this movment becomes the spark that will light the fire for change in some capacity. It is abundantly clear that SOMETHING has to change - it remains to be seen what that is, but I'm hopeful of it being for the better. I will leave you with a final thought that I've written about in a previous article about the themes of Lin-Manuel Miranda's spectacular play, Hamilton:

The play’s primary theme is this: that our actions define how we’re remembered; no matter what we do, history always watches us. We, as individuals, have no control how our story is told. We have no say in it, because our actions tell it for us. Hamilton reminds us of this fact; we are so caught up in the horror show that today’s world seems to have become that we forget that we are not all that matters. There are generations of people to follow us and generations after them as well. How do we want history to remember this time period? Is our story meant to be one where freedom of speech is non existent, guns are put into the hands of people to slaughter innocents, where war is seeming more and more like an inevitable conclusion instead of a last resort? A time where tolerance is all but gone, the most miniscule things offend people, and one where corruption and injustice is the norm?

Are you satisfied?