As a white privilege man that moved from Quebec to the USA I never realized how much racism there was in this country. I grew up looking up to America and wishing I could go there and live the American dream, and I did and have for over 20 years now but with what I am seeing these days all I can think about is moving back home to Quebec.
Like everyone else I watch the news and saw the murders of black men over and over again but even so, I never realized that there was such a thing a white privilege nor that there was so much hate here. In Canada racism is not much of an issue, at least noting like we see here so for me this was all new. Now in the last few years I have become close friends with one particular black man and it’s shown me so much of what is wrong with this once great country.
The way he has to live his life compared to me just because he is black is just BS. He gets pulled over for no reason all the time, we now call it DWB (driving while black). He works for me and we had a white rightwing customer come in, super good guy and we had a cool conversation but he could not believe what my friend what going through. He told us a story about getting pulled over after running a stop sign, he told the cop he was armed, they had a good talk and the cop sent him on his way with a warning, had that been my friend, he would have been fucked or at least scared for his life.
I've learned a lot about this country these last few years and i do not like what i see anymore. My wife is at the point were she wants us to move to Canada or we sell my business sooner and by our sailing catamaran and get the fuck out of dodge.
I saw this great post today on FB, it says a lot about what’s going on today, why people are mad, it’s long but a good read and worth sharing...
I didn’t write this, my friend
Christy Cabrera Chirinos
did, but I wish I had.
“If you woke up today and wondered why our country was burning, stop for a second and think about what we’ve seen the last few years.
When Colin Kaepernick and many other NFL players took a knee during the national anthem to protest police *******, they were called “sons of bitches” by the president and worse by others. The message certain people in our society sent? “Sure, you can protest peacefully. Just, not like that.”
When NBA players spoke about social injustices, and wore hoodies to protest the death of Trayvon Martin and shirts with the words “I can’t breathe” to protest the death of Eric Garner, they were told to “Shut up and dribble.” The message certain people in our society sent? “Sure, you can protest peacefully. Just, not like that.”
When many of my former colleagues in sports journalism covered those events, or dared opine on them in their roles as columnists, they were told to “stick to sports.” The message? “I don’t want to listen to what those people are saying. They’re supposed to entertain me. They can protest peacefully, just, not like that.”
When actors, musicians, artists and their allies in entertainment have spoken up about social injustices during awards speeches or at high-profile events, they were told “This is not the time or place. It’s not your job to lecture me. Just take your award and get off the stage.” The message, again, certain people in our society sent? “Sure, you can protest. Just, not like that.”
Just yesterday, when the people of my city peacefully marched on one of our busiest highways, I saw, over and over and over, comments insulting them and telling them to get the hell off the roads because they were inconveniencing others. When my football program’s coach praised their peaceful efforts, he, too, got plenty of nasty messages sent his way on social media. The message? “Sure, you can protest. Just, not like that.”
Protests are supposed to make you uncomfortable. They are supposed to make you think. They aren’t supposed to be easy to ignore. Period.
If you have chosen over and over to not listen to decades of pain and anguish, you don’t get to be mad that decades of pain and anguish have turned into anger. And if you haven’t stopped and really watched what is happening, and you haven’t seen how across America, many protestors and their allies have tried to stop violent rioters from destroying property and escalating an already-tense situation, maybe save your righteous anger and talking points and pay attention.
It’s time for those of us with privilege to listen. The floor is not ours. And it is time for us to act and help our fellow citizens create a world where they can jog in peace, be at home in peace and where they can have interactions with police officers that don’t leave them fearing for their lives.
For years, they’ve asked us to listen. We haven’t. And so, here we are. Our country is burning. Are we going to finally listen, act and demand change?”
I ignore her yet she keep going.
