The Cycle of Outrage and Complacency in the Face of Racial Injustice

"I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it's for or against." -Malcolm X

I sit here, attempting to process my feelings about American democracy in light of another day that will now live in infamy: January 6, 2021. 

A day of American insurrection. 

A day when the world once again witnessed the pervasiveness of white supremacy in our culture. The contrast of the treatment and depiction of white people intent on violence and destruction against those with Black skin marching, begging to be treated as human beings. 

Yet, a mob of white thugs descended upon the seat of American power, chanting to hang the Vice President and seeking to execute Nancy Pelosi and others. They were allowed to walk right on into the Capitol building to terrorize its hallways and walk right back out. 

Capitol Police officers welcomed the terrorists with open arms, taking selfies with them even as they breached the Capitol and put hundreds of lives, and American democracy, at risk.

The president said that he loved them. 

Reporters carefully referred to them as protestors instead of rioters and terrorists. They wrote reflective pieces on the lives of terrorists, giving them humanity they do not deserve. 

Meanwhile, Black people aren’t even afforded dignity even after their own murders, as those who lynched a Black jogger had the audacity to demand that their victim, Ahmaud Arbery, not be referred to as a victim in court. 

As these scenes unfolded during the Insurrection of 2021, Black Americans watched in dismay and disgust. We were saddened that major victories in Georgia, organized and delivered by Black women, were overshadowed by white supremacists. Our hearts wept at the reality that those responsible for killing five people, including a police officer, were treated with more respect than a Black EMT sleeping peacefully in her home. 

Tamir Rice

Than a 12-year-old little boy playing with a toy. 

Than a beautiful, gentle soul who played the violin for cats in shelters. 

Let’s be very clear: none of it surprises us. And that’s a tragedy in and of itself. But the reality remains: In 2021, just as every year before, Black people are humans villianized for existing in our skin and proclaiming our humanity.

We’ve Seen This Before

White people, I need you to pay attention. 

This seems to be the pattern of what happens every few months: white Americans commit heinous crimes against innocent Black people in front of the entirety of the nation and world. There is outrage. We had no idea that this sort of thing happens! 

Even though the same thing was proclaimed in May 2020 with the murder of George Floyd.

We have to do something! We must change this! Black Lives Matter! 

You’ll buy the books. Engage in social media battles to proclaim your spirit of social justice, meanwhile refusing to engage in the difficult but necessary reflections on white supremacy and privilege that are at the core of allyship. 

You’ll scream that “Black Lives Matter” while tone policing Black people on the words they should use in demanding that their right to exist. 

You’ll call out the racism and privilege you witness when it unfolds on your screen, but refuse to do the hard work to reflect and recognize it at play in your own life. 

You’ll look into diversity training for your company because you’re committed to change, but not so much that you actually want to compensate the Black people expending their emotional labor to help your organization learn and do better.

You’ll continue to proclaim your commitment to diversity, while gaslighting the Black people at your job.

And then, a few months of quiet will hopefully go by, and you’ll get tired of seeing how unfair the world is. You'll tire of seeing how deeply systemic racism is entrenched in the fabric of all of our lives. After a few intense months of anger, you’ll decide that meh, Black Lives don’t really matter that much anymore (67% of Americans said that they supported BLM in June 2020, right after George Floyd’s murder. That number declined to 55% in September of the same year. Seriously? Seriously.).

This cycle needs to end.

Time to Face an Ugly Reality

You know how, in your personal life, not dealing with an issue means that it keeps returning again and again until you buck up and face it? 

That same thing is playing out in America repeatedly when it comes to race.

We have never dealt with the reality of our violent, white supremacist beginning, middle, and present. Our history has literally been whitewashed, with the most unpleasant parts ignored, twisted, or turned into false fantasies of goodness (see: Thanksgiving, Columbus Day). 

It is the collective gaslighting and indoctrination of every American. It is white supremacy at work.

If you’ve found yourself proclaiming, “This is not who we are!,” take a long, hard look around you. Yes, it absolutely is who we are and have always been. 

Truth Hurts

If you’ve found yourself praising the brilliance of Stacey Abrams for the wins of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and the Senate victories of Reverand Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, take a look at how you treat the Black women in your own life. 

Stacey Abrams

Are you committing microaggressions against them because of the very qualities you’ve praised in Abrams? The confidence, innovation, and brilliance that is lauded in different packaging in the workplace, but is seen as a threat when possessed by Black people?

Do you praise strong Black women when we do what we have to do to protect ourselves because no one else will, then label that same strength as anger, calling it “intimidating and aggressive” on the review, and using it as justification for breaking out the performance improvement plan when it appears in your employees? 

I do diversity, equity, and inclusion work because I have an innate inability to tolerate inaction in the face of injustice. The running around of issues I’ve witnessed at countless organizations I've worked instead of addressing them has always been a particular point of irritation. 

Move to Action

Antiracism is about action, regardless of how uncomfortable it is. It’s not meant to be easy. It’s supposed to center the focus of doing better for other humans, not you or your feelings. 

If you want to be about this work, then be about it. There can be no excuses. 

Acknowledgment, awareness, and action are the stages folks need to walk through to do better. Please understand: the steps aren’t a checklist. It is a circle of ongoing work and intention. 

The truth must be recognized, reckoned with, and reconciled. 

Did some of this sting? It was meant to. I ask you to sit with that feeling of discomfort. 

Where do you recognize yourself in these words? What can you do to reflect on them, then move forward to do better?

Make your plan. Like anything, it will take practice and many, many failures. But the work is too important to give up. 

You don’t proclaim yourself an antiracist through your words. You do it through consistent, continuous actions. Are you ready to do the work?