Why Injustice Concerns All Of Us, Even If We’re Not Affected

Lately, the Black Lives Matter movement has been haunting my conscience. I’m not black, or white, or even American. I’m pretty much an outsider in the United States, some people may say that the BLM movement is none of my business. But I think injustice concerns all of us.

Pastor Niemöller put it perfectly.

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out,
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out,
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out,
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.”Martin Niemöller

I’m speaking out for selfish reasons – I want to live in a just society. So yes, I’ll talk about the BLM movement, and I’ll say black lives matter. Because police brutality is wrong and what’s happening to the black community is worse.

Now, I’ve watched 13th, and I’m going to keep educating myself about the situation.

However, for this post, I’m writing it from the point of view of an outsider who doesn’t know about the systemic racism that’s been plaguing the black people for a long time.

One doesn’t need to know everything that has happened to know that police brutality is wrong.

Can we agree on the injustice?

Let’s talk about George Floyd

I know you probably know what happened. In case you don’t, here’s a summary.

2 police officers responded to a call about the use of a counterfeit $20 bill by a supposedly drunk man. One of the officers handcuffed George Floyd and was putting him in the back of his police car when Derek Chauvin arrived with his partner.

At this point, the police had the chance to close the door of the vehicle and drive Floyd to the station. They didn’t. Instead, Chauvin pulled Floyd across the back seat and out of the car. He knelt on Floyd’s neck while two other officers applied pressure to Floyd’s torso and legs. The 4th stood watching.

Floyd told the officers he couldn’t breathe with the knee behind his neck. An officer told him to get in the car, to which he replied, “I will” clearly.

Instead of allowing Floyd to stand up, Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck.

Chauvin continued to kneel on Floyd’s neck while making a call to the EMT for “bleeding from the mouth”, and even after Floyd lost consciousness.

Bystanders got anxious. They told him Floyd’s not moving and asked him to get off Floyd and check Floyd’s pulse. He ignored them, only lifting his knee after the EMT arrived and asked him to move.

Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds while George Floyd repeatedly begged him for his life saying “I can’t breathe”.

That kind of treatment was uncalled for. Floyd wasn’t being violent. Maybe he used a counterfeit note. The officers could’ve brought him to the station, but no, they had to punish him.

Yet George Floyd was one of many black victims who died at the hands of police officers while being unarmed and not violent.

Let’s talk about Tamir Rice, the boy

I’ve often thought about Tamir Rice lately, who was 12 years old when the police shot him. He was playing alone with a toy gun that looked like a real one.

While reading up on it, I’ve come across comments that he should’ve known better than to wave a toy gun in public. Or that his parents should’ve taught him not to do that.

It made me think. We’ve all been 12 years old. At 12, we’re children – not very sensible. Not a teenager – but getting a hint of the teenage angst.

When a 12-year-old is holding a toy gun, he likely isn’t thinking that “oh it looks real, I better not wave it”. I think a regular 12-year-old would play with it and pretend to shoot it because he’s 12 and it’s a toy gun!

It wasn’t his fault the toy gun looked real from a distance.

Yes, he was tall, they may have mistaken him for a man with a gun. But his face looked 12 years old. The police drove right up to him and shot him in seconds. Don’t blame him for being tall and for playing. Especially when some folks get to carry their big guns around without getting harassed by the police.

Tamir Rice was a child. Not a criminal.

There are too many cases

Black people have been shot by police while playing with toy guns, holding a BB gun at Walmart, holding a phone in his grandmother’s backyard, sleeping in a car, sleeping in their own home, reaching for their wallet, for being mentally sick…

If you can, do click into the links to read the articles. None of these people should’ve been hurt, let alone shot.

Contrast that with the fact that white mass shooters have walked out of crime scenes unharmed, something is very wrong here.

I’m not against the police force. I know I’ll call them if someone broke into my home, and they do have a high-risk profession.

However, when police officers kill innocent people over and over, claiming they’re fearing their lives when the “suspects” often aren’t even armed or violent, they are committing a crime and must be met with justice.

It’s as simple as that.

In the face of injustice, should we speak or remain silent?

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”Martin Luther King Jr.

This quote is the reason the BLM movement haunts me.

Think about this, a child is abused by her father. Her mother finds out about the abuse. She does nothing about it. She never abused the child, she even loves her. But she has a part to play in the abuse. She cooperated by staying silent about it.

Being silent about injustice is pretty much passively accepting injustice. We’re allowing it to happen.

Most of us, in my opinion, passively accept injustice because we think there’s nothing we can do about it.

We may wonder what speaking up can achieve – I’m just one person. But when enough people do the same action, it becomes a movement. It fuels change.

I’ve wondered whether I’d have done anything if I was a non-Jewish German in Germany in WWII. Or if I was a white person in America before slavery was abolished.

Would I have done the right thing?

In hindsight, it’s so clear to us that the Holocaust and slavery were both so obviously wrong and cruel. We think our morals will guide us in those situations, but what about what’s happening now?

For years, I’ve read about unarmed black men being killed by the police, often with little consequences. But I’ve never given police brutality a serious thought until this year.

It’s a no-brainer. Police brutality is wrong when it’s done against unarmed, non-violent men and women, regardless of race.

I want to do the right thing.

It’s for ourselves too

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Martin Luther King Jr.

This is where things get a little personal for everyone. There’s a saying that if someone can cheat on his/her partner with you, he/she can cheat on you with someone else.

People have a tendency to think bad things won’t happen to them. But tables can turn.

An unfair system is dangerous to everyone in the system. It may not affect you today, but something may happen somewhere down the line and you may become subject to the same injustice.

Take a look at the BLM protests. People, regardless of race and age, weren’t safe from police brutality. Protesters were pepper-sprayed or shot with rubber bullets, people lost eyes, an old man with a cane was pushed by cops.

What do we do, if the very group of people who are supposed to enforce the law violates it?

When injustice is unchecked, we need to ask ourselves, “what if this happened to me? Will the perpetrator get away from it? Will anyone stand up for me?”

We should put ourselves in the shoes of black people. How would we feel, if we’ve been discriminated against for generations? If we have to work extra hard to succeed in a system that’s rigged against us? If we’re viewed upon as criminals? It could’ve happened to any one of us, and it can happen to us in the future.

Stand for justice

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”Martin Luther King Jr.

Most of us are programmed to self-preserve and avoid getting into trouble. In fact, I was hesitant to write this post because I know little about racial issues in America and about black history. Would my ignorance make me say ignorant or insensitive things? Would I get into trouble? I didn’t even know if I can use the term “black people”.

Then I realized that the most important thing to know here is right from wrong. That’s why I’m setting aside what I’ve learned about systemic racism so far and focus on police brutality.

Anyone killing or grievously harming unarmed humans going about their lives (or committing petty crimes for that matter), has committed a crime and should be subjected to the rigors of the law.

It’s as simple as that.

I want to live in a just society. I don’t root for a particular color because it appeals to me.

Today, if the roles were switched and the white people were the ones getting killed by black cops, if white people were the ones discriminated by the system, I’d have said white lives matter too.

This is about standing up to injustice as best as I can. Black lives matter, not because they’re black, but because they’ve been unfairly treated. And as a human, it makes me mad and sad.

Stand for justice.

Injustice concerns all of us

“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”Martin Luther King Jr

The other day, I listened to Stephen Colbert’s interview with Senator Cory Booker. He talked about how when he was younger, elders told him he has to be careful in the way he interacts with people and the police or the consequences might include death.

Even though he’s a senator, he thought twice about changing into a t-shirt and shorts to walk home because he may get perceived as a threat.

I’ve read that many black men have this fear. It’s absolutely heartbreaking to be living in your own country and have to worry about getting into trouble just by being out on the streets or driving a car.

This is the 20th century, black people shouldn’t still be punished for being black. They shouldn’t still be chained by the system.

I’ll never truly understand how it feels to be black and discriminated (first blatantly, then systemically) for generations when most others don’t even think about it.

But I can learn and acknowledge that life is harder for black people, that systemic racism exists, that police brutality is wrong.

I can speak for them, with them, so that if and when trouble comes for me, there’ll be someone left to speak for me. Selfish reasons, really.

Apart from joining a protest, we can help by donating to the movement, donating to bail funds, signing petitions, sharing information, and educating ourselves. We can help by correcting our implicit biases and being rational, compassionate humans.

If you want a truly safe and fair society, you should care about injustice, even if it’s not happening to you.