Trying to Breathe in These "Post-Racial" United States

[WilliamPitt]

(Photo: Ryan Sorensen)

Trying to Breathe in These "Post-Racial" United States
By William Rivers Pitt
Truthout | Op-Ed

Saturday 06 December 2014

It was 1984, and I was in love for the first time in my little life. We had met at a dance, and for a few magnificent weeks we drowned in each other's waters in the way you can only do at that sapling age. She was incandescent, hilarious, beautiful, funny and whip-smart, and I plumbed the depths of my barely-there personality just to keep up. She was wonderful.

And she was Black, and on the day of the Boston Marathon that year, I was walking down Commonwealth Avenue with my arm around her, and a car cruised by filled with a pile of upperclassmen from the school I attended, and the car slowed, and the faces in the windows were all turned my way, and they were a thunderstorm, a caricature of disgust and revulsion and rage and hate. She didn't see it. I did, but I didn't fully realize what was coming.

The day after, back at school, those upperclassmen formed a pack and swarmed me. There was a dress code, so I enjoyed the experience of being pummeled by large people in Navy blue sportcoats, felt their blows raining down while their terrible 1980s ties dangled in my face, and all the while they screamed, "Did you f--k that ni---r? Did you f--k that ni---r? Did you dip your wick? Did you?" as the fists flew.

The experience was profoundly formative. I was a boy when that happened, when merely being in the presence of a Black person was cause for violence, and this was in the "enlightened" Northeast. I understood much more about my country the day after than I'd ever known the day before.

It happened thirty years ago, and we all like to believe in the concept of progress, but Michael Brown is dead today with no consequences, and Eric Garner is dead today with no consequences, and cops send wildly racists tweets back and forth to each other stoking their hatred for the Black men who get shot down.

(snip)

Eric Garner was murdered by a clot of police officers on a public street in broad daylight for the crime of selling individual cigarettes. Michael Brown was cut down by a police officer who, based on the preponderance of evidence collected by that particularly ludicrous grand jury, panicked and shot an unarmed teenager to death, and that teenager's body was left to lie in the street for hours, and hours. The Medical Examiner, by his own testimony, did not photograph the body because he claimed the batteries in his camera died.

Res ipsa loquitor. The thing speaks for itself.

Hank Johnson, the Democratic Representative from Georgia's 4th district, took to the floor of the House to deliver a cry for simple justice that must resound in the halls of history for as long as memory exists:

Men and boys killed by police.

I can't breathe.

Impunity for the killers-no justice, no peace.

I can't breathe.

Militarized police met peaceful protesters on their knees.

I can't breathe.

Weapons of war-a show of force on our streets.

I can't breathe.

Disenfranchised youth driven to violence as speech.

I can't breathe.

Cynical media think this makes great TV.

I can't breathe.

This cowardly Congress afraid of losing our seats.

I can't breathe.

Half-hearted reform when there's more that we need.

I can't breathe.

Just thinking about the despair that this breeds.

I can't breathe.

Black lives matter. Hear my pleas.

I can't breathe. I can't breathe.

&feature=youtu.be

The rest: http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/27846-william-rivers-pitt-trying-to-breathe-in-the-post-racial-united-states

[Odin2005]

1. Holy shit, Will, you got beat up just for CRUSHING ON a black girl?

[WilliamPitt]

2. I was holding her hand.

It turned out to be a violent offense.

[stone space]

9. Never had anyting violent happen, but...

...we did get all four of our tires slashed once while swimming here at a local swimming hole.

[jwirr]

3. I was bad during and even after the civil rights movement. My sister married her black husband

and they lived in fear for most of their married lives. The idea of interracial marriage was more of less limited to college towns and military base areas. Outside those areas it took years for people, even good people to recognize it as something that is a personal choice. I am not real sure that it is totally accepted even today.

[FiveGoodMen]

4. "even good people"

In my book, dropping the racism and not causing someone to live their lives in fear is a prerequisite for being called good.

[jwirr]

5. I more or less meant it that way. The people of our aquaintance had to see him and get to know him

before they came around. But they changed which is why I refer to them as good people.

[FiveGoodMen]

6. Ah, got it.

Glad they came around.

[marym625]

7. standing in line at the store

And people were wondering why I was crying.

Beautiful, thoughtful piece. Thank you for sharing this.

[ellenrr]

8. I remember when I was dating a Black man, in the news this event:

in Utah 2 white women were jogging with 2 black men
(I don't know whether they were couples, of course it doesn't matter).

Shots were fired. I think one of the black men was killed.
(long time ago)

I just thot how awful I would feel if I were one of those women.
I KNOW, it's not their fault,
but what a f**ked up world.

after that any time we were out walking, and a car would slow up I would get nervous and imagine a thousand awful things.

fortunately nothing bad ever happened to us.

A lot of looks, but who cares about that.

If you think America isn't racist, try hanging out with a person of a different race.
you'll find out soon enough.

Another time, I was at a park with a Black woman friend and we were tramping around. She noticed a pick-up truck with a couple of white guys following us.
I wanted to tell them to f' off, but she persuaded me not to.
I figured she knew the danger better than me. So we made it quickly back to being in a crowd, instead of being isolated.

[countryjake]

10. Kick and Recommend!