<p>From a friends page, hopefully it will help some feel why we feel the way we do. This is really not about Michael Brown, its bigger than that…</p>
<p>Why are black people so angry?</p>
<p>Last night, I decided not to turn on the television and to shut off social media. I literally put headphones on a listened to an audiobook until I fell asleep. I have long given up on cable news and the only thing that would’ve been surprising was if they actually did decide to indict Officer Wilson. Since, I was 99% certain that wasn’t going to happen, like a 2-year old I put my hands up to my ears to shut out all the noise. Once I did wake up, I saw the news alerts and read my Facebook feed and noted like many that many of my black friends posted their feelings and thoughts and almost none (I counted 4) of my non-Black friends posted anything about the case at all. One of those 4 was about how irresponsible the looters were being. I decided that my contribution to social media would be to answer, from my perspective, why I believe why Black Americans are angry and why some would choose to express that anger through violence and looting.</p>
<p>I think it’s important to note that I plan to use many sports metaphors, not because I think this is a game, but more so because of my lack of creativity and it is one of the few areas of American life that many seem to agree upon. We are so polarized these days, that we can’t see the forest for the trees – separate churches, separate schools, separate politics, separate neighborhoods, but sports is one area where we come together without even thinking about it. We may root for different teams, but we’ll go to the same bar and enjoy a drink together and it never occurs to us to think of a Black Seahawks fan vs. a White Seahawks fan.
So on to the question, why are Black Americans so upset? Why are they upset that you are not upset? Why is it all about race all the time? I’m not the authority on all things Black American, but I’ll answer some of those questions personally and maybe some will resonate. One reason Black Americans are so upset is because they believe the American system of government is rigged and not in their favor. In one of Chris Rock’s standups, he said there is one thing every single White person in America knows - They don’t want to be Black. That line got one of the biggest laughs of the night from all stripes as most people know implicitly that the American experience for Black Americans isn’t remotely similar to others and Black folks laughed in self-deprecating humor. While that may be funny, it is literally a matter of life and death for some and that’s where the anger sets in.</p>
<p>In the case of Michael Brown or countless others, the problem from a Black perspective is that it has been made abundantly clear Black lives are much less valuable than others. The narrative and perspective that was immediately portrayed was a large Black man, who was aggressive and violent and the police officer put him down like a savage beast. His body laid in the street for hours. This is the similar narrative with Trayvon Martin. The problem with this narrative is that it doesn’t allow you to see Michael Brown or Trayvon Martin as a child and if you assume that they have a proclivity towards violence than you are justified in putting them down in any way you see fit. The inability for America to view young Black males as children, much less their children, but rather criminalized adults/outcasts, shapes our perspective and thus our response. It’s unfortunate to say, but more people were outraged about how Michael Vick treated dogs than Black American children that are victims of police abuse. Why are we not outraged about ‘Stop and Frisk’ or ‘Stand Your Ground’ ? The reason is because it doesn’t affect us, it won’t impact our kids, we avoid those neighborhoods like the plague and pretend like it doesn’t exist. Well it does exist, it does affect our kids, it is happening in our neighborhoods and the inability for the majority of American citizens to even display empathy toward children shot in the middle of the street in plain daylight only creates more division, more animosity, more anger.</p>
<p>What is most distasteful is the system of justice that gives people the authority to resolve these situations is the very system that is causing the inequality. Imagine for a second, in a basketball game, a player is running on a fast break. A referee intentionally sticks out his leg and the player tumbles over and the ball goes out of bounds. The ref blows his whistle and awards the ball to the other team. The player immediately gets up and goes to another ref, telling him that he was tripped and the other ref was in the wrong. The second ref looks at him, looks at the other ref and gives the player a technical foul for complaining. The announcers note that it’s unfortunate the player was too close to the sideline and should have seen the ref’s foot. The player even points out the ref who tripped him is wearing the other team’s jersey underneath his uniform, but to no avail. The player then grabs the ball and kicks it as hard as he can into the stands and exits.</p>
<p>Sports only work when players, coaches and fans believe in and trust the impartiality of the referees and scorekeepers. Economies only work when citizens agree upon the value of the currency. When you have experienced and strongly feel that the system of justice is rigged against you and you have no recourse, you want to kick the ball in the stands and not play anymore. Unfortunately, citizenry isn’t a game you can easily walk away from. The saddest part about all of this, is we have a Black Commissioner (POTUS), a Black Head of Officiating (Attorney General) and several witnesses (Instant Replay) and not only was Officer Wilson not convicted, he wasn’t even charged with a crime to begin a trial. That’s why people are so angry, that’s why people don’t vote, that’s why some people choose to riot and loot. </p>
<p>People aren’t in the streets all over the country protesting because one kid was shot to death, people are protesting because they believe the system is rigged against them and the vast majority of the population either doesn’t believe them or is okay with it that way.</p>