Do not push people to their limits
Why does terrorism exist? There are many types of terrorism and just as many theories, but aside from State sponsored terrorism, generally speaking it is because of poverty and the lack of a political voice. Any people who are deprived of opportunities and the ability to influence political decisions through conventional means over long periods of time will eventually turn to violence to express their outrage.
In the last few years, as BLM has become more visible, more and more white people are blaming the movement for the violence which so often follows its protests. This isn't a new tactic for opponents of the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr. faced the very same criticisms, as many white people falsely claimed that he incited hatred and violence.
In 1963, King wrote a letter from a Birmingham jail in which he included the following paragraph: “We further strongly urge our own Negro community to withdraw support from these demonstrations, and to unite locally in working peacefully for a better Birmingham. When rights are consistently denied, a cause should be pressed in the courts and in negotiations among local leaders, and not in the streets. We appeal to both our white and Negro citizenry to observe the principles of law and order and common sense.” These are hardly the words of a person inciting hatred and violence.
It is inarguable that many BLM protests have devolved into violence, but it is just as obvious that hypocrisy has long permeated the white right. There is no excuse for either.
The same whites who so vociferously blame blacks and BLM for the fires, destruction, looting and violence that follow a BLM protest quickly excuses the thousands of whites who stormed the Capitol. They paint the insurrectionists as patriots, and go so far as to deny that the insurrection even took place. Most tell the story of a large group of concerned, but peace-loving Trump supporters caught up in a maelstrom created by the dreaded BLM/ANTIFA cabal, designed to frame and falsely portray Trump’s sycophants. Even when they eventually admit that his followers stormed the Capitol, they say Trump should not be blamed for the acts of the mob. All this despite the fact that Trump incited the crowd to riot by saying “We fight like Hell and if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country any more.” How can anyone say King’s words were violent, yet not see incitement to riot in Trump’s words?
White American “patriots” resorted to violence and murder 60 days after Trump’s lies about a rigged election. Just two months after false claims of imaginary voting irregularities and they threatened civil war, yet 300 years of slavery, torture, murder, lynchings and unending, and the pernicious denial of civil rights never led to American blacks doing anything even remotely as anti-American as those white patriots. The bottom line is that white people got more violent about a perceived injustice than black people ever have about very real, long-term systemic injustice. Who are the terrorists now?
Nothing scares me more than white racists with guns.
If Trump and the Republican party are not to blame for the insurrection that saw our Capitol taken by violence, why is it that BLM is blamed for those who riot and cause damage? BLM is a movement; a decentralized network of activists with no formal hierarchy. Likewise, Antifa is a left-wing anti-fascist and anti-racist political movement in the United States. It is highly decentralized, and comprises an array of autonomous groups that aim to achieve their objectives through the use of direct action rather than through policy reform.
Federal law defines a domestic terrorism as: “acts dangerous to human life that violate the criminal laws of the United States or of any State and which appear to: “intimidate or coerce a civilian population or influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or affect the conduct of the government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping.” The U.S. State Department is tasked with, and maintains a list of terrorist organizations. Black Lives Matter and Antifa are NOT on that list.
For over 300 years, this country has done everything it could to destroy, defeat, demean and dehumanize its black citizens. Slavery, Jim Crow laws, Redlining, suppression of the black vote and any and every other machination possible has been used to keep American blacks from social and economic equality and the right to be heard.
I condemn every act and person who commits acts of violence when BLM rallies devolve into destruction and mayhem, but at the same time, I also know why it is happening. What I can’t understand is how 300 years of brutal, racist oppression hasn’t resulted in far more violence than we’ve seen. It goes to show just how patient and longsuffering black Americans have been, but make no mistake; our black brothers and sisters are people, not saints.
White Americans must admit that racism is alive and well in America and then work diligently to end it. More importantly, it is not enough to not be a racist; each one of us must be fiercely anti-racist if we want to save this country and our collective souls.
“Everyone has limits of patience. Do not push people to their limits. You may not like the reaction!” Subodh Srivastava
“Negroes
Sweet and docile,
Meek, humble, and kind:
Beware the day
They change their minds!
Wind In the cotton fields,
Gentle breeze:
Beware the hour
It uproots trees!” Langston Hughes