The Wild Reed: Something to Thing About . . .

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Something to Thing About . . .

When my friend Cathy shared the above cartoon on Facebook, someone responded: "Oh please, this [i.e., the NFL's policy against protesting players] should not be compared to slavery." Following is how Cathy responsed to this statement.

Of course it's not the same as slavery but if you think there doesn't continue to be a pattern of discrimination and oppression against black folks you are indeed living in a small world. And white folks don't like when black folks block the freeway or protest at other public events, so then they protest quietly – and that is not acceptable to people either. It continues to be the same concept of Shut up, boy, and do what we tell you to do.

And here's Cathy response to another comment she received in which someone asked: "Why can’t it just be about people? People protesting? Why is race always brought up?"

[T]he reality is that for people of color it is always about race. For goodness sakes, they are barbequing in the park or sleeping in their dorm room and people call the police on them because they don't think they belong there. So as much as you and I can ignore it, the reality is that black folks pay a price in big and small ways every single day because of their race. So, yeah, we have to talk about race until we get to a place where black folks can go about their daily lives without regularly wondering if the cops are going to be called . . . or worse.