White society is eager to brush their assumptions and arguments onto anything that vaguely smells like progress. Why? Because throughout history, they have desperately tried to hold onto the life they know — a life where they hold all the power.
Trump is the white extremist’s messiah; he caters to their illogical belief that they are in crisis and being replaced by minorities and immigrants. A white man’s worst nightmare is a world in which he has no one to rule. A Black man taking a knee to make known the wrongs of police brutality and racism is a punch in the gut because the white man cannot understand why anyone would dare do such a thing. So he will reconcile with himself and his community that taking a knee is against the flag — he will twist patriotism in his favor. White people, in varying degrees of belief, don’t understand why someone would need to protest police brutality. In their minds, the victims deserve it because subconsciously their humanity is being negated. This mindset must change in order for further racial reconciliation and justice. We cannot hope to have more allies if white people are unwilling to understand Black life — its joys, perils and customs.
In a larger sense, the white community must de-master themselves. They must fight their learned assumption of being in power in various settings. Examples of this can be seen in white people policing the everyday activities of Black people — think of Amy Cooper, Barbeque Becky or Permit Patty. They must begin to vacate positions of power to allow for greater opportunity. They must learn that they need to be open to abdicating authority; they must learn to not be master. Once that mentality is eradicated, they may be open to better understanding other cultures, ethnic minorities and faiths. Yes, there will be disagreement. Ideologies may not be wholly agreed upon, but what matters is the conversation. We as a country are seeing a rise in white resistance over the supposed imminent extinction of white people. According to a 2020 report by the Center for Strategic & International Studies, far-right terrorists committed 67 percent of domestic attacks and plots in the US. The white man, subconsciously- through society and through the benefits they experience through privilege- is used to power and seeks to retain it.externally noticeable or not, craves power. He craves to crush “inferiors” into servitude. This desire can be removed through education, living in (and not gentrifying) majority-minority areas. He needs to learn to move with time and allow for new leaders and new bipartisan solutions in politics, business and other spheres of life. He must stop denying the issue of race, this country’s neglecting of the effects and history of slavery and its desire to forget the part of history whose repercussions are still felt by minority communities — and enjoyed by white people.
Now, more than ever, is the time to do so. In these times in which we have witnessed mass protests against police brutality, systemic racism and inequality — we, as youth and as people, must continue in our demands for change. Let’s discuss policing. Protests against brutality have been met with more brutality. Leaders are denying these facts as the evidence fills our news feeds. We cannot stop at half-hearted apologies or empty promises of reform. We must completely tear down the old system in order to better our communities — for the hands that built what we have right now are accursed and dedicated to our murders. We have to fight back against the resistance to our cause, and continue to dismantle and extinguish white supremacy in every form, and in every place in which it tries to arise.And why should this action be taken? Because, in light of the recent events, particularly the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, it shows that white resistance will only continue to grow more violent. White resistance tends to spark when progress is made in any context — whether in governmental offices, legislation, in the workplace, etc. And with the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, a victory carried by the mobilization of the Black vote, there was bound to be some type of backlash. However, despite the events at the Capitol, an attack upon the nation and the grounds on which democracy is to thrive- it went unpunished.In this time in which so many are striving for more progress to be made- even as we see the beginnings of the Derek Chauvin trial- it’s imperative that we each take a stand against white supremacy. We must take it upon ourselves to continue to educate one another and stand for those who don’t have a voice.
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