by admin

You Gave Him Permission

So my Facebook feed, and conversations with white friends are mostly back to ‘normal’: a few anti-Trump things, lots of summertime fun, a petition here and there, and my Black friends are still talking about how Black Lives Matter. >As such, this feels like a good time to remind y’all that when Derek Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd’s neck and looked up at the cameras and the screaming crowd, hands in his pockets, shoulders relaxed, nonchalantly taking a Black life, he wasn’t alone. And I’m not just talking about the officers who were bystanders. I’m talking about ALL the white folks, who every day, actively or passively, contribute to a society that values white lives above all. Y’all were the ones that gave Derek Chauvin the permission to kneel on that man’s neck and not even blink a moment of concern the entire time.

You gave him permission if you work at a company or organization that only has white folks in leadership.

You gave him permission if you send your kid to an all white school, or a school with a significant achievement gap that you have not thought to question.

You gave him permission if you say nothing when Uncle Bob makes racist comments at the dinner table.

You gave him permission if the only Black folks you interact with are doing a service for you, paid or not.

You gave him permission if you think racism is white hoods and burning crosses.

You gave him permission if you hesitated to talk to your kids about the uprisings.

You gave him permission if you call the police when you are merely inconvenienced. Or if you keep driving when you see police officers interacting with Black people.

You certainly gave him permission if you now have a yard sign about how much you appreciate police, and this is certainly you if you have been silent through this entire uprising.

There will be more Derek Chauvins and more George Floyds until YOU do something different, until you stop giving permission to treat Black lives as disposable. My Facebook feed is back to normal, I’m seeing your lives get back to normal, so I need to know: what are you doing that’s different?

 

***

Rachel Faulkner is the National Jews of Color and JWOCMarching Organizer at Dimensions Educational Consulting, where she works to center the voices of Jews of Color within the Jewish community and the greater world. She is an educator and a coach, but is ultimately just trying to use her existence as resistance.