Never have I ever
Recently a friend suggested as a woman of Indian heritage, having grown up in England, I might find the show “Never have I ever” on Netflix funny and interesting. This morning I woke with that phrase on my mind.
Never have I ever.
Following the murder of George Floyd and the varied responses, this is the phrase that comes to mind the most. There are people who, even in their efforts to show empathy, are minimising the significance of this event by posting as though they can relate to what this community is currently dealing with, and they can’t possibly. As a female person of colour, yes, I have dealt with racism, sexism, career discrimination, cultural isolation, fear of walking home alone in the dark for fear of rapists and so on, but…
- Never have I ever been stopped by a police officer in broad daylight
- Never have I ever had to hold my hands up high to show complacency even when I have done nothing wrong
- Never have I ever had to make my hands visible immediately to show that I wasn’t holding a gun
- Never have I ever had to worry that I’ll be pulled over and asked to prove I own the car I am driving
- Never have I ever worried that being pulled over in a car might lead to my demise
- Never have I ever had to prove on the street that I am a contributing member of society
- Never have I ever been questioned because I “look like someone who committed a crime nearby”
- Never have I ever been beaten even when cooperating
- Never have I ever had to worry that no matter how educated I am, I am still expendable because of the colour of my skin
- Never have I ever had to realise there is no one to call for help, because the people committing the crime are the “help”
- Never have I ever had to worry I’d be murdered by the very people sworn to protect us
- Never have I ever had to warn a child that they have a target on their back because of the colour of their skin
- Never have I ever…
- Never have I ever…
- Never have I ever…
And if you are not a black person living in America. Then neither have you.
In my humble opinion. Other forms of discrimination do not qualify us to understand what the black community in America is going through right now. These causes have their time, place and focus. But not right now.
Yes there are many atrocities in the world, yes there is a lot more hate to combat, so let’s do it together, with action and understanding. We have a responsibility to educate ourselves, to show empathy, to speak out against judgement, discrimination, racism, and those that perpetuate hate, and to put pressure on government to demand swift changes and to exact justice for wrongs.
Yes all lives should matter, but the fact is, they don’t.
And no one knows that better than the black people of America. #blacklivesmatter
“But all our phrasing — race relations, racial chasm, racial justice, racial profiling, white privilege, even white supremacy — serves to obscure that racism is a visceral experience, that it dislodges brains, blocks airways, rips muscle, extracts organs, cracks bones, breaks teeth. You must never look away from this. You must always remember that the sociology, the history, the economics, the graphs, the charts, the regressions all land, with great violence, upon the body.”― Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me
This book gave me but a small glimpse into this disparity and everyday reality for black people in America. If you are seeking to understand this madness, I suggest starting here.
Racist or hate comments will be removed, it is not freedom of speech, it is not the right to debate, it is hate. It starts here. It starts now.
