White folks historically have a knack for taking things that don’t belong to us. Unfortunately, it seems that other people’s demonstrations and protests are not exempt.
After the murder of George Floyd this past May, thousands of White Americans joined Black Americans – carrying signs, leading chants, and expressing their anger. Similarly, the recent acquittal of the officers charged with Breonna Taylor’s murder sent up another surge of protest. While the vast majority of White protestors are in solidarity with Black folks, there is another type of White protestor that seems to be hogging the spotlight. These folks go to these protests simply because they are fed up with the police, and fed up with the government. In their desire to be heard, they are not only overpowering the voices of the very people that they are supposedly there to support – but also interfering with Black Lives Matter and putting Black Americans in further danger of police brutality.
Not All Protests Are Created Equal
Let me be clear, I am in full support of everyone protesting against police violence, systemic racism, and injustice toward communities of color. What I am not in support of is how some of us commandeer these demonstrations for our own agendas. Mobs of disenfranchised angry young White people push against police barricades, yelling hateful slurs at the police – calling them fascist pigs. This almost inevitably leads to explosive confrontations ending in tear gas, percussion grenades, and arrests – subsequently unleashing another group of self-serving White anarchists (also there for their own agenda) to break windows, shoot off fireworks, and burn and destroy city property.
Black Americans have every right to be disenfranchised, furious, and even vengeful right now – even toward the police. However, it does not serve the Black community when angry White people are the ones wrathfully engaging with the cops. This is not our fight to lead. Instead of listening to the needs of the community that we are there to support, too many of us White folks are demanding to be heard. If we simply spew hatred at the cops – we are no longer aiding the cause, nor are we doing the deeper work of self-reflection. We are ignoring our own complicit role by simply assuming that the “fascist pigs” across the barricade are the only problem.
When angry White folks take it one step further and start throwing water bottles, rocks, and fireworks at the police – it does not encourage more people to join the movement. Instead, it alienates those on the fence about attending protests and brings down a hailstorm of national scrutiny from conservative politicians, media, and the general public about the Black Lives Matter movement. Moreover, when White protestors carelessly engage in this type of blind hatred, we are further putting Black Americans (and other People of Color) in danger – as they are the ones who will undoubtedly experience the brunt of police retaliation.
Socialism and Black Lives Matter Are Not The Same Thing
While it may not appear to be the case, the hasty creation of the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle (CHAZ) displayed a similar level of misunderstanding of Black Lives Matter. CHAZ was not in response to the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, systemic racism, or police brutality. Instead, it allowed another group of peaceful White folks to pursue a Utopian dream that they had been preaching long before the BLM movement took root. In many ways, CHAZ was just an echo of Occupy Wall Street – only this time, the plan was to build a self-policing community open to all People of Color. Once again, this movement stemmed from the White community – a vision of no centralized leadership, urban farming, a bartering economy, and a hate free zone that in many ways, resembled the “All Lives Matter” approach to achieving equality. The later renaming of CHAZ to the The Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP), clearly demonstrates that there were some misguided goals in the creation of this ultimately self-serving autonomous community.
Time To Step Back
White people have had the podium long enough – it’s time for us to take a back seat and actually listen to the communities that we claim to support. If we are not able to show up in this way, we are missing the whole point of these protests. More importantly, we are making the problem only about the police and the criminal justice system, without addressing the underlying systemic racism that we all have a part in upholding. Police brutality is an extension of White supremacy – not the other way around.
Between the disenfranchised and angry young White folks, the Anarchists, and the Utopian Visionaries – White people simply command way too much of a presence at these protests, ultimately distracting from the bigger issue at hand. Our primary role at these protests is to support a severely marginalized community – not to assume our usual role at the helm of the ship. Otherwise, when the next unfortunate event happens, we will be doomed to repeat the same mistake – hindering the efforts of Black Lives Matter and ultimately delaying efforts to dismantle systemic racism.
