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"To be silent is to side with the oppressor"

How the case of George Floyd has begun to expose white and non-black minority groups

By Liesha MapiyePublished 4 years ago 4 min read
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(Image: REUTERS/Darren Ornitz)

On the 25th of May 2020, George Floyd was murdered by Derek Chauvin who was a Minneapolis police officer at the time. Chauvin has since been fired from his occupation and has officially been charged with third degree murder and manslaughter. Since the horrific events that occurred on the 25th, millions of people have come together to raise awareness of the continuation of police brutality and racial injustice towards black people in America. The Black Lives Matter movement has been prevalent on the streets of Minneapolis, many other cities in America, as well as on social media. Floyd's death has caused anger, grief, and general uproar to rise up from America, as well as other countries such as England.

In a time where solidarity and accountability is needed, people are coming together against a common enemy. However, there somehow still seems to be misconceptions on what it means to not be racist and what silence actually means.

It is the truth that in this year 2020 and in years before, all minority groups, all people of colour, are experiencing racism in some shape or form; it seems to almost come naturally these days. Now because of this, I would expect there to be a larger following of non-black POC speaking out about the systematic hatred of black lives in America. I would love for someone to explain to me why minority ethnic groups, who are often seen associating themselves with black culture, are standing by idly, as if society isn't burning down around them.

Someone please tell me why white people who are 'friends' with black people, and also at times enjoy our culture, are staying silent. I don't think enough people realise that staying silent is almost as bad as being on the side of the oppressor - if you are going to stay silent, you might as well be on the side of the oppressor. When I see that you haven't even shared the link to a petition, or posted some sort of message to your snapchat or Instagram story, I feel hurt. I feel like you don't care. I think I can speak for the black community when I say that non-black groups seem to love everything black except black people themselves. It has been said that to not be racist is no longer enough. We need to be actively anti-racist. We need to be educating ourselves and other people on the corrupt societies we live in. Societies that were never made to protect black people. Sending around a little Instagram chain, tagging ten friends with the hashtag black lives matter is not good enough. If anything, it proves that people can take a term meant for fighting racial injustice and turn it into a game. Newsflash: this not a game and it never was.

Thankfully, in the past few days I have seen a large following of white British citizens coming to terms with anti-racism and actually being proactive in learning about the treatment of black people in not only America, but in the UK. I have seen posts about how to fight racism in the UK, how to educate yourself on anti-racism. I have seen book recommendations, podcast recommendations, film recommendations. I am proud to acknowledge these people. I am proud that people are making an effort to educate themselves on the ill treatment of others. However, this still is not enough.

I want to see everyone who can do so signing petitions and sharing them. I want to see people bringing up uncomfortable conversations at their dinner table. I want to see people actively fighting against racism in any way they can. Now I am not saying you have to post about police brutality and systematic racism every minute of the day, but just do something. Don't stay silent. Not now. This is not the type of situation where you can just half heartedly post about a country on snapchat with the caption 'thoughts and prayers' (even in those situations, we should be doing more) . Read books, watch the news, listen to what people are saying. Fight the system.

You can no longer stay silent. Silent allies no longer exist. Use your privilege. Use your platform. Speak up.

activism
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