By Ernie McCray
(Photo courtesy of Loud Love Photography ©2014)
Recently, a man said I should wait for the “facts” because of feelings I shared when I was (and I still am) grieving the “fact” that Michael Brown had been shot unarmed in the streets of Ferguson, Missouri.
Oh, it seems like the only time Americans talk about justice and fairness and deal with terms like “facts” is when black folks are involved. I mean like students of color at one time were denied college admissions as a way of American life. Affirmative Action Programs were created to address this problem and immediately they were attacked because they were deemed as “unfair” to white students.
Now “facts” have become a code word for keeping black people in our place when it comes to issues of justice. A black boy lies dead in his own blood and the “let’s wait for the facts” crowd, the KKK among them, have raised over $400,000 through GoFundMe for Darren Wilson, a cop, for whom there are very few “facts” other than the “fact” that he was the one who took a young brother’s life.
And speaking of “facts,” comments on the GoFundMe website are in “fact,” chilling to the bone, downright scary.
One donor said to Wilson, “Waste of good ammo. It’s my privilege to buy you a replacement box.” That a black life can be so effortlessly dismissed is a shameful “fact.”
Another declared “I thank all Police… protecting normal Americans from aggressive and entitled primitive savages.” And somebody weighed in with “Black people can be their own enemy and I am not white… He was shot 6 times cause the giant wouldn’t stop or die. Evil people don’t die quick.”
Well, we aren’t now and we weren’t savages and giants and evil human beings when Massa loaded us into the slave boats. That’s a documented “fact.”
There is a coalition of local organizations, individuals and community leaders, who embrace the historic, rich and diverse culture of Southeast San Diego and have organized gatherings and marches designed to get citizens involved in a campaign called “Reclaiming the Community.”
How about this: “Let this ‘GoFundMe’ serve as an example to all cops in America: The general public will support you, especially if you pull the trigger on violent criminal thugs.” What makes that particularly alarming is the “fact” that “criminal thugs” is becoming an accepted social and political definition of black boys in America today.
And there is no “fact” truer than the “fact” that all of this is so devastatingly disappointing to someone who came of age in the 60’s, all swelled with hope and pride, seeing my young peers of this age being so devalued and hated as human beings.
But being of that time I tend not to mourn sitting down. I like to join with those who ease their emotional pain by trying to change things. There is a coalition of local organizations, individuals and community leaders, who embrace the historic, rich and diverse culture of Southeast San Diego and have organized gatherings and marches designed to get citizens involved in a campaign called “Reclaiming the Community.”
The idea, generally, is to build a healthy community where every person has an opportunity to thrive and learn to both seek and expect a promising future, one wherein there would be no climate of sympathy for perpetrators of violence against black teens, be they other blacks or those who are paid by our tax dollars to “protect and serve” us.
Those involved in “Reclaiming the Community” see what’s needed to be done, understanding that so many of our youth are struggling to survive in an environment where they see no hope whatsoever. We know that, too often, some get in trouble simply because they don’t know how to act and we know that if we ignore their predicament they will end up as victims of the New Jim Crow – the mass incarceration of black youth.
We are working to establish a mindset in the community that won’t tolerate hate, violence, racial intolerance or the financial exploitation of a crime like what the supporters of Darren Wilson are doing via GoFundMe.
The action is already in motion with three rallies already held, one at the World Famous Imperial Barber Shop on Imperial Avenue, one at Skyline Park and Recreation Center, and the last at Marie Widman Park in Encanto The next events are scheduled for:
Saturday, September 6th @1PM – Dennis Allen Park (Mt. Hope) at 600 Gateway Center Way
Saturday, September 20th @1PM – Four Five Park (Lincoln Park)
Saturday, October 4th @1PM – Memorial Park at Ocean View Blvd, between South 29th and 30th
Malcolm X once said: “The Future Belongs to Those Who Prepare for it Today.”
Well intentioned people of all colors and creeds and walks of life are invited to support a community in its good works because the “fact” is this is a problem for as many citizens to solve as is possible.
Ernie McCray
Latest posts by Ernie McCray (see all)
- Should Democrats, like Superman, Seek ‘Truth, Justice and the American Way’? - December 10, 2018
- Saying Goodbye to a Friend Who Gave Me a Helping Hand - November 28, 2018
- An Awakening - November 21, 2018
It’s time to start up being good, doing good, thinking about the good, again. We can all show people what we believe, again.
Rally & march for Ferguson in City Heights today 8/30 at noon, behind the library.
Couldn’t agree more. Thanks for writing this Ernie!
Right on Ernie, Bob, and Crystal. Your article was excellent, Ernie.
Thank you for sharing your words Ernie. They speak for so many. I hope folk will join in for Reclaiming the Community.
HI ERNIE: What a great post! History always repeats itself; the cycle of civil violence leads to a report on what caused the problem, creating social programs who soon are wiped out by right wingers and others who claim themselves victims of discrimination. Perhaps in one of your future posts, you may want to introduce your readers to the Kerner Report; how it defined the Los Angeles and Detroit riots and led to equal opportunity programs. And as we “fast forward” to this very day, we are right back to where we were some 45 years ago! The report indicated Black and White America is growing further and further apart. It also reported the major cause of this condition was the creation, establishment and continuing presence of white racism! Ferguson is but the tip of the iceberg leading to another round of senseless violence. Racism in America will never end until ALL Americans are educated on the historical anatomy of racism, and then we will possibly be able to begin erasing it from our daily lives. But as a song in our past said: “That will be easier said than done!”
Ernie,
I truly enjoyed reading your article. I would like to point out that the constitution of the US forbids discrimination because of race, creed or color; this provision is superficial in effect because the same provision upholds the concept of race as the law of the land.