On Sunday, May 31, I attended a protest at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. I learned a great deal about history and social inequality and, for that, I am grateful.
Here are some takeaways:
1) Your single positive experience with the police does not negate the negative, and often fatal, experiences of many.
2) As an Asian, I am privileged. As a cisgender woman, I am privileged. Instead of shaming myself for benefiting from a racist, unjust system, I need to take that privilege and use it. Good allies aren’t here to talk for the Black community. They’re here to create space for the Black community to speak on their own.
Photo Courtesy of Michelle Castillo
3) I may understand what it’s like to live in a prolonged state of hyper-vigilance, but I do not wear a target on my skin. I do not carry it with me the way that black people do. I will never understand what it is like to be black, but I can learn to empathize and work to be better.
4) “It’s not our fight” is bullshit. It’s everyone’s fight. Institutionalized racism is so deeply woven into the foundations of this country that we need everyone to actively fight for change. If you settle for “good enough,” the violence will continue. When we look back on history years from now, know that those who were silent did just as much damage as those who fired weapons.
I feel strongly that these issues are coming to a head because the world is finally ready to change. It is important that we don’t find ourself swept up in the momentum only to crash again three months from now. We are directly responsible for whatever comes next.