by Mia McKenzie
For the past three years, ever since Trayvon Martin was murdered for walking while black and reports of unarmed black people being killed by cops and wanna-be cops have surged, leading to the Black Lives Matter movement and push-back from black communities all over the country, I’ve wondered how, and if, we’re ever going to beat anti-black racism. I don’t even mean eliminate it. I just mean…get a leg-up. Because sometimes it seems as if we’re getting nowhere, and getting there really fast.
In the wake of the South Carolina church shootings, when South Carolina governor Nikki Haley said, “Parents are having to explain to their kids how they can go to church and feel safe,” I wondered what those parents have been teaching their kids about anti-black racism all this time.
More importantly, what is everyone (who actually cares) teaching their kids about anti-black racism?
“Don’t say the N-word, Bobby!”
“Be nice to people no matter what the color of their skin is, Malik!”
“The Ku Klux Klan is bad, Madison! Don’t ever put on a hood and burn a cross on someone’s lawn! Okay, nap time!”
Is this the gist of it? God, I hope not. Jokes aside, I suspect that it’s not much more nuanced than this. And it really needs to be…
