No, I’m Not Going To Attack You, I’m Just Next In Line

I’m not here for your convenience or to be your excuse. I’m here to live my life without your interference.

The practice of racial profiling some are accustomed to often becomes yet another injustice others must face daily; a perpetuation of oppression and marginalization of minority groups throughout American history. This strategy has been consistent and deliberate by many in the majority for generations and continues today.

Like many of my Black brothers and sisters, I have been on the receiving end of ill will because of my skin color. Not because of any miscalculation on my behalf but because of involuntarily being brought into a world occupied by those who seek domination — thinking that by projecting their ire (or power) onto innocent minorities, the cards will be stacked in their favor.

This comes with living while Black in America — treated as the “other” on more occasions than I care to remember.

I’m your huckleberry

Unfortunately, life can throw you a curveball and in an instant, your luck can change, and not necessarily for the better. Having gone to court to fight for visitation to see my son I know firsthand how the system treats Black people and how effortlessly it leans on racial discrimination. Though I walked in with no prior criminal record or history of violence or questionable behavior — I walked out a thug, a criminal — someone who had harmed others (including my son) and was not provided fair treatment or equal rights under the law to see my child.

It becomes more and more difficult to avoid the idea of Black men as subjects of not just racial profiling but of an insidious form of racial obliteration sanctioned by silence. — Aberjhani

Such blatant manipulation of the truth wasn’t a shock to me — as this is the go-to tactic for how Black people (especially Black men) are portrayed. Painted as a thug, abuser, addict, and worthless individual who should be devoid of rights is what many see. It’s easier to tap into those biased perceptions so deeply rooted in the subconscious many have than to see someone as a human being.

There is a history of using the image of a Black man as the “fall guy” — someone who by default the majority will assume is a perpetrator. Over the years many in the white community have used this as their crutch in trying to get away with objectionable behavior, knowing all the while that a fabricated story wrongly accusing a Black person will probably have weight in society at large.

Bridge over troubled waters

In 1989, the Central Park Five case in New York involving a woman who was brutally attacked in Central Park while out for a jog one night caught national attention for the savagery of the crime as well as how the alleged assailants were arrested and convicted.

To capitalize on the racial intolerance of the time, the NYPD and the Prosecution made it their mission to arrest and convict five Black teens as soon as possible no matter the evidence or lack thereof. In the minds of many in the community, the idea of a gang of Black youths running wild in NY terrorizing and brutalizing white women was enough for an expedited conviction. It was easy to form a bias that suited a specific agenda and, in this case, exploiting this fear and using it was a way to benefit said agenda.

Last year’s Central Park Birdwatching Incident comes to mind as well. Amy Cooper, using her privilege, fabricated a story about being threatened by a Black man. It didn’t matter that her tirade was caught on video. Her ingrained privilege got the best of her, and any concern she had for her misguided objective was clearly nonexistent. Sticking to a script many often reference when they feel their world is being threatened, she without hesitation relied on the old standard of “blaming an innocent Black man” and called the police to be “saved.”

No, I’m not gonna hurt you. No, I’m not gonna harm you. And I try not to hate you. So why you want to give me that Funny Vibe! — Living Colour

Taking a page from the racial profiling and discrimination playbook, another case of an innocent Black man targeted for a crime he didn’t commit found its way up north to Boston. Also in 1989, Charles Stuart killed his wife Carol and unborn baby then told police a Black man committed the murder. This calculated strategy to play on the fears of the white community was the norm at the time (and still is). After days of neighborhood round-ups, intimidations, and illegal searches, the police arrested Willie Bennett.

For those of you not familiar with this story, Willie Bennett became the target of a corrupt and racist system that threw all its resources into finding the “Black killer” of a young pregnant white woman. It was easy to point the finger at an innocent Willie Bennett as the perceived threat of Black men victimizing white people (white women in particular) loomed large for generations, especially in an atmosphere still reeking with the stench of a post-segregated Boston.

It was all for show — to prove to the white community that the city of Boston was on top of this high-profile case and would bring the “Black killer” to justice.

Mr. Chuck eventually succumbed to the pressure of guilt and perhaps remorse, not for how he blamed an innocent Black man (and community) or for killing his wife but ultimately for getting caught. Eventually, his maliciousness got the best of him and he decided to gauge the shift in wind by practicing his high dive off Boston’s Tobin bridge.

Are we all the same to you?

Racial profiling might seem like news of the past but when the practice happens on the regular, it’s difficult to shake the mental strain it has on our community. For nothing more than living your life, you’re subjected to other’s irrational behavior; all to comfort a fragile AND broken psyche.

Why are we as a community expected to always look the other way or turn the other cheek; especially when our rights and way of living are compromised? This idea of “just deal with it” because that is how things are, is an epic falsehood sold to not only the Black community but to many in the white community as well.

Everyone just wants to belong in a space and a society within a friend group. And when you are an underrepresented group or a group, that’s considered lower status in our society, it can be really hard to find your place. — Dr. Sarah Gaither

“Social privilege” is thinking whatever ridiculous racist story you spin will work in your favor and can be manipulated to your advantage. Historically, the perception that Black people are nothing more than animals that need to be controlled, objectified, locked up or extinguished, still finds its way into the subconscious and is played out every day. We see this in policies resulting in, mass incarceration, a biased legal system, unjust policing, voter restriction, and of course racial profiling.

Each day brings us a fresh new example of how the Black community is treated like yesterday’s trash. If it’s not being falsely accused of a crime or thought of as a burden to the majority, it’s the inhumane treatment by the police, or by a system that has, yet again, failed us. Though we have been treated as subhumans for centuries, it seems as though every 30 years, a resurgence of social reckoning blankets the zeitgeist. We are currently experiencing this today.

I’m hopeful it will last this time, however, history has a way of correcting the future.

The “will of the people” finally gets a seat at the table but for how long? The fight continues every day we have to experience another injustice. With every page of the racist playbook being used to keep us oppressed, from succeeding and from living, we must keep the pedal down and move forward without hesitation, or reluctance.

Thank you for reading!

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