Can You Hear Us Now?

As the tears ran down my face my heart sunk to my stomach. No, they were not so much tears of fear, but more of disgust, concern, and frustration! What the world saw taking place on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, many are calling insurrection, revolt, riot, and uprising chaos. For me, it’s all of these descriptions resulting in an assault on our democracy as never seen before.

Do You See What I See?

What happened at the nation’s Capitol sends a clearer message of the racial inequalities that have always existed in Black America. Can you hear me now? You see the double-standard that is real in how white America is treated and the privilege afforded to them that Black Americans are not worthy of. At least in the eyes of those that are against us. The rioting and unrest brought me back to my earlier article entitled Conversations in Black.

In this article, I discussed my ongoing conversations with my son and daughter on how to conduct themselves in public. Specifically when, and if they encounter a situation with the law. It’s a constant conversation that white parents don’t have to have with their children. It’s a conversation with goals of safety and staying alive. We may not actually be separate, but we are definitely unequal! Again I ask, can you hear us now?

I saw the results of inequality in the action or lack thereof on the part of those at our Nation’s Capitol, whose role is to protect. As that day unfolded, Congress was moving forward to certify Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the President and Vice-President of this United States of America. At the same time, a large crowd gathered at the incitement of the invisible POTUS. I say invisible because in his speech right before the certification Trump told the crowd ‘You will never take back our country with weakness.’ He further told “his supporters” that he “wanted the people gathered on the National Mall to go to the Capitol immediately afterward in protest of what he falsely claimed was a stolen election.” Trump said all this but did not accompany them to the Capitol. He was nowhere in sight! He lit the dynamite, but stayed clear of the explosion! What a leader. Not!

Are My Eyes Deceiving Me?

Hold up! Wait a minute! What the heck! A few months ago, protestors, unarmed Black Americans, peacefully and non-violently assembled at Lafayette Park in D.C., were exercising their First Amendment Right protesting police brutality. Immediately the protestors were met with military tanks carrying National Guard troops, police in full riot gear and U.S. Park Police, brutality started spraying them with tear gas and concussion grenades!

President Trump said in a statement that demonstrators protesting the death of a Black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck, would have met ‘vicious dogs’ if the White House fence was breached. The message is loud and clear. If that group yesterday were made up of Black people, the story would have played out a lot differently. There is no doubt that not only would they not have gotten that far past the fences to the steps, but they would also have been shot on sight! Many of the people involved yesterday were carrying firearms and who knows what else. They were able to stroll on by. Some were in the Capitol carrying Confederate Flags while others were merely escorted out.

All Eyes on America

With other nations watching, probably with pity, shame and laughter, Americans, in a desperate attempt to reclaim whatever past power they believed they had, Trump supporters armed with a toxic mixture of people susceptible to misinformation from an ineffective leader with influence to cause such a destructive outcome puts our safety on the line. We don’t trust the system. How can one after witnessing what happened yesterday? How can one feel safe if they were able to get that close to the Capitol and inside with the security that surrounds the Capitol? This is where we are. We’re living in shaky times. With two weeks to go of his presidency, people are scared that this behavior can get worse.

What we saw as the event began to unravel, was a riotous pro-Trump crowd- some armed. They were able to breach the security of the Capitol, push past security (to me it actually looked more like they just walked in) and storm the Capitol while security did nothing until back-up came. An Individual identified as Richard Barnett of Gravett, Arkansas was able to gain access to House Speaker Pelosi’s office with no one stopping him.

If You See It, It’s Happening

Black Americans are no longer keeping silent when we see how outright disparities are in our face occurring over and over again. We are seeing it, experiencing it and speaking out against atrocities like this. Are we angry? Yes! However, with slavery and everything that followed, Black people have never done anything like what we all saw yesterday without there being bodies lying all around. Four people died, yes, while the majority of rioters walked out alive. Was I surprised? No, I was more taken aback by the level of how this all happened and how it played out.

My daughter works four blocks from the Capitol and was so afraid of the possibility or I should say, the certainty of something like this occurring, that she stayed home from work in fear of her life. Here I go again. I am still talking to my children about being safe while being Black. How they must conduct themselves in the presence of law enforcement and those who don’t like us because of the color of our skin. Being cautious even when fighting for something they believe in. This horrible and embarrassing situation proves why conversation in Black still matters. Can you hear us now?