Sign In

Close
Forgot your password? No account yet?

"I can't believe this is happening in America" (ferguson) by Jive

I keep seeing white liberals on social media posting that they can’t believe what is happening in Ferguson, or that they can’t believe this is happening in America. Now I normally wouldn’t care enough about any of that to make any commentary, but they are sending me messages, outraged at what America has become. This America is strange to them. “Are you seeing this?” Yes, I see it. “How is this happening?” Have you all not noticed that I’m Black? Do you genuinely believe that you are sharing confidential information here? Is white supremacy and the abuse of power by the police supposed to be breaking news for me? It’s like they’re saying “us good white people wanted to let you know that there are bad white people out there doing bad things. It’s shocking! Just want to let you know in case you weren’t aware.” They can’t believe it they say.

There are only 3 reasons why they can’t believe that Black people are under siege in the United States and those reasons are as follows;

1. They know nothing about the country they live in. Absolutely nothing.

2. They haven’t actually listened or payed attention to anything Black people have said before.

3. They are deep denial about their country.

This is a country that dropped two bombs via air on Black people in Philadelphia in 1985. When it comes to raids and sieges, all white people know is Waco and maybe Ruby Ridge. They don’t know about MOVE in Philadelphia. Go ask your white liberal friends if they know about MOVE and you will probably be met with blank stares.

Since the inception of the US as a settler nation, Black people have been under siege. Black people being under siege is something many white liberals cannot fathom because they have never been under siege and they don’t know Black history beyond Martin Luther King having a dream and Rosa Parks sitting on a bus. They are comparing Ferguson to war zones outside the US because this doesn’t seem like home. Certainly not the home they know. They can’t fathom it happening in their country. No my friends, this is America. This is your country. This is what it has always been. Violence committed against Black people is as American as apple pie...

Read the rest of the piece here.
Incredibly important commentary on public reactions to Ferguson. Not my writing, obviously.

Disclaimer: I am not black.

"I can't believe this is happening in America" (ferguson)

Jive

Journal Information

Views:
500
Comments:
4
Favorites:
3
Rating:
General

Tags

Comments

  • Link

    Irbis

    I was aware of the bombing of MOVE and the destruction of that whole neighborhood actually. Then the city 'rebuilt' the neighborhood for them, to shoddy standards that resulted in it being condemned.

    Now, to be fair, the bombing was during the second MOVE standoff - the first had injured several cops - and the group had built a bunker atop a building the second time and were using it as a firing station. While that doesn't justify 'Let it burn' - which is what the city did - but it does justify using explosives to try and clear the bunker away.

    Now, I'm more confused that people are surprised at these riots. When you look at it, this whole situation is not unlike the Treyvon Martin case, or the Rodney King riots, or the Harlem Riots, or the Zoot Suit riots, or...

    Of course this is happening again. :/

    Anyway, I'll just share a list for those interested from the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_riots#United_States

    1910: Nationwide riots following the heavyweight championship fight between Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries in Reno, Nevada on July 4
    1917: East St. Louis Riot
    1917: Chester, Pennsylvania
    1917: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    1917: Houston Riot
    1919: Washington, D.C.
    1919: Chicago Race Riot of 1919
    1919: Omaha Race Riot of 1919
    1919: Charleston, South Carolina
    1919: Longview, Texas
    1919: Knoxville Riot of 1919
    1919: Elaine Race Riot
    1921: Tulsa race riot (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
    1923: Rosewood massacre (Rosewood, Florida)
    1927: Yakima Valley Anti-Filipino Riot
    1928: Wenatchee Valley Anti-Filipino Riot
    1929: Exeter Anti-Filipino Riot
    1930: Watsonville Anti-Filipino Riots, which inspired race riots in San Francisco, Salinas and San Jose and attacks elsewhere.
    1935: Harlem Riot of 1935
    1943: Detroit Race Riot
    1943: Beaumont Race Riot of 1943
    1943: Harlem Riot of 1943
    1943: Zoot Suit Riots
    1946: Columbia, Tennessee Riot
    1949: Peekskill Riots
    1951: Cicero Race Riot in Illinois
    1958: Battle of Hayes Pond (Maxton, North Carolina)
    1963: Birmingham Riot of 1963, Birmingham, Alabama
    1963: Cambridge riot of 1963 (Cambridge, Maryland)
    1963: Lexington Riot, Lexington, North Carolina
    1964: Harlem Riot of 1964 (Harlem neighborhood, Manhattan, New York City)
    1964: Rochester riot (Rochester, New York)
    1964: Philadelphia 1964 race riot (North Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
    1965: Watts Riots (Watts neighborhood, Los Angeles, California)
    1966: Division Street Riots (Humboldt Park neighborhood, Chicago, Illinois)
    1966: Hough Riots (Hough community, Cleveland, Ohio)
    1966: North Omaha, Nebraska (North Omaha community, Omaha, Nebraska)
    1967: Tampa Riots, (Tampa, Florida)
    1967: Texas Southern University Riot (Houston, Texas)
    1967: 1967 Detroit riot (Detroit, Michigan)
    1967: Buffalo riot (Buffalo, New York)
    1967: Milwaukee Riot (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
    1967: Minneapolis North Side Riots (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
    1967: 1967 Newark riots (Newark, New Jersey)
    1967: Plainfield riots (Plainfield, New Jersey)
    1968: Orangeburg massacre (Orangeburg, South Carolina)
    1968: Nationwide riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
    1968: Baltimore riot of 1968 (Baltimore, Maryland)
    1968: Chicago (April 1968) (Chicago, Illinois)
    1968: Louisville riots of 1968 (Louisville, Kentucky)
    1968: 1968 Washington, D.C. riots (Washington, D.C.)
    1969: 1969 York Race Riot (York, Pennsylvania)
    1970: May 11th Race Riot (Augusta, Georgia)
    1970: Jackson State killings (Jackson, Mississippi)
    1971: Camden Riots (Camden, New Jersey)
    1972-1977: Escambia High School riots (Pensacola, Florida)
    1975: Chaffey High School Race Riot enhanced by local sniper (Ontario, California)
    1978: Houston's Moody Park on the first anniversary of Joe Campos Torres death.
    1980: Miami Riots (Miami, Florida)
    1980: Chattanooga Riot (Chattanooga, Tennessee)
    1984: Lawrence, Massachusetts Race Riot: A small scale riot centered at the intersection of Haverhill and railroad streets between working class whites and Hispanics; several buildings were destroyed by Molotov cocktails; August 8, 1984.
    1989: Overtown Riot (Miami, FL) In a reaction to the shooting of a black motorcyclist by a Hispanic police officer in the predominately black community of Overtown in Miami, residents rioted for two nights. The officer was later found guilty of manslaughter.
    1991: Crown Heights riot (Crown Heights neighborhood, Brooklyn, New York City)
    1992: Los Angeles Riots (Los Angeles, California): In a reaction to the acquittal of all four LAPD officers involved in the videotaped beating of Rodney King and the murder of Latasha Harlins; riots broke out mainly involving black youths in the black neighborhoods and shop owners in Korean neighborhoods, but overall rioting was mainly to get out the frustrations of the racial groups over the racial tensions that were building in the South Central neighborhood for years.
    1996: St. Petersburg Riots (St. Petersburg, Florida): After Officer Jim Knight stopped 18 yr. old Tyron Lewis for speeding, his car lurched forward and Knight fired his weapon, fatally wounding the black teenager. Riots broke out and lasted for about 2 days.
    2001: Cincinnati riots (Cincinnati, Ohio): In a reaction to the acquittal of Steven Roach after the fatal shooting of an unarmed young black male, Timothy Thomas, during a foot pursuit, riots broke out over the span of a few days.
    2003: Benton Harbor riots (Benton Harbor, Michigan)
    2005: 2005 Toledo Riot (Toledo, Ohio): A race riot that broke out after a planned Neo-Nazi protest march through a black neighborhood.
    2006: Fontana High School riot (Fontana, California): Riot involving about 500 Latino and black students
    2006: Prison Race Riots (California): A war between Latino and black prison gangs set off a series of riots across California
    2008: Locke High School riot (Los Angeles, California)
    2009: 2009 Oakland Riots (Oakland, California): Peaceful protests turned into rioting after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man, Oscar Grant, by a BART transit policeman.
    2014: Shooting of Michael Brown, later riots break out after the shooting was believed to be racially motivated.

    • Link

      Jive

      I don't agree that use of explosives was justified, considering the group's reason for digging in, but that's neither here nor there.

  • Link

    Kajy

    That was fucking powerful.

  • Link

    Juniper

    This whole ordeal is driving me nuts sometimes more for the reason you started with. White liberals being surprised, and a lot of people in general smearing the entire town of Ferguson because they managed to find articles that showed people breaking windows and throwing molotovs, as if then all people in the town were guilty of the crimes of some. Why is it hard for people to actually use their brains and realize that if people are looting, then the police go after the looters (and for that matter, with measured force), not everyone in the fucking town!