I can't even begin to tell you how angry I am. I took a few days to think through the emotions swirling in my head before saying something I might regret. But the longer I wait to speak out, the more I feel like I'm adding to the problem. See, here's the thing.......
As a white person it's difficult to know if I'm allowed to speak when things like this happen. It's also difficult to speak in a manner so that it is with the utmost clarity that everyone knows exactly where I stand. I do not fully understand what it means to be a person of color in America. I've been through my own stuff, but it pales in comparison to the everyday struggles people of color face. I've been stopped by cops plenty, never once have I feared for my life. I've never entered a business and felt like I don't belong. Look, I've been around some rough stuff growing up, I've seen gang wars first hand, I've fought with certain groups because of my long hair and rock music. But never once did I feel like my life was in danger. but at the end of the day, I feel like the longer we sit here and don't say anything, the more it feels like we're supporting the problem. It's a time to take a stand. Right now, right here.
I'm concerned for where we are as a society. I look around at all these other countries who have great ethnic diversity and I wonder "why can't we get our shit together like they did?" I wonder what someone like Bubba Wallace would say. See, NASCAR is a predominantly white sport, predominantly southern too. Then there's Bubba, trying to make his way doing something he loves in a world where everyone tells him he don't belong. These are the times I'd like to sit down with him and just talk, ask him what life is like, and honestly listen. I have lots of friends who are black. My son-in-law is black, my grandson is mulatto -
He's the cutest little afro I'v ever seen. He loves his mulatto sister, he loves his grandpa, he loves everyone he meets. But I'll be honest y'all, I'm concerned that he is growing up in a world where one day he might be the next victim. Even being half black is enough that his life may one day be in the same position as George Floyd. I worry that my son-in-law might be next. I'm sick of people telling me "Only criminals have to worry". You're ignorant, and you're blind, and frankly I have no time for you because you are literally the problem. I'm also sick of people saying "But what about this cop who did good? Nobody talks about this." I'm also sick of people saying "More blacks are killed by blacks than by cops." See, the epitome of white privilege is to deflect, "but what about this over here...." The epitome of white privilege is to ignore the issue and somehow make it about "everyone" instead of the specific problem. Quite frankly, I'm sick of it. If you want to start with the "all lives matter" shit, move along because I'm not listening to your rhetoric anymore. It's literally the root of the problem.
Look, like I said, I don't know what it's like to be a person of color in this world. But I know this, the longer I say nothing, the longer it feels like I'm part of the problem and I simply won't do it anymore. I'm not going to listen to the masses rationalize the riots by saying "these are thugs, criminals, not protesters!" You're 100% wrong. Rioting is the voice of the unheard. You refuse to listen, so they speak louder. I can point to several protest locations where the police force showed up without force, not dressed in riot gear, no guns drawn. they showed up calmly, and at those locations things stayed peaceful. The places where SWAT teams rolled in aggressively, fully geared for a fight, well they got one. Rioting is the voice of the unheard, and the longer you refuse to listen the louder they speak. I stand with those whose lives are on the line here. I stand with those who get shunned from so many things based solely on the color of their skin. I refuse to argue with anyone who doesn't see the reality of this. Today I make my stand, right here, right now. I'm sick of it, it has to stop.
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