Letter to the Editor:

In light of a recent post, I decided I simply could not hold my tongue. In our community, ignorance towards how severe racism is here is a very large part of the culture. So, I hope you choose to continue reading and hopefully finish it off knowing more than you did before!

Not owning slaves anymore does not mean racism is no longer a part of our nation. While in theory black people have the “freedom” to do what many white people can, we’re not able to exercise our rights without some form of stereotype or bias implemented on us before we even gain the opportunity to speak out in defense. Whether it’s giving children names classified as “white names” to better their chances of acceptance to college, or putting caucasian on the birth certificate of a mixed child, the habit of making moral sacrifices to better the lives of children of color in this country is where it begins.

Currently, the big issue is police brutality. According to aljazeera.com, black people are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police officers when innocent. I know what many are thinking, “But they’re the most violent race.” Wrong. Typically we’re associated with gang culture. For those who don’t know, gangs were originally formed in the 1960s for African Americans to protect their neighborhoods against police brutality, a large amount which occurred in poverty-stricken residencies in Los Angeles. As history goes, things got out of hand. The more stereotypes placed on us at a young age, the more we fall towards it. This is where systemic racism comes in.

A popular music genre is rap/hip hop. Often times rappers reference how they “made it.” Made what? Well, they made it out. They beat the system. You see, in the 1950s there was an era called “White Flight,” which was when suburbs became more common. All the white European immigrants and white American citizens moved from urban areas to rural. This is where the white picket fence American Dream comes into play. Black people were still being treated unfairly, still lacking equal pay and equal rights. Hence, their inability to move. This left us in tenements and other apartments in cities, or small homes. Without proper pay to afford a new home or to continue an education, many black people were stuck in poorer neighborhoods, later deemed “ghettos” after the Jewish ghettos of World War II. Growing up with not much to your name, the color of your skin being a weapon, the stereotyping, micro aggressions, and blatant racism, not to mention still being oppressed by society, is the cycle of systemic racism. Lacking job opportunities from not being able to afford your education lead to anger, violence, and the constant state of depression that’s still relevant today.

Many groups have worked to better the lives of black people. We all know about Dr. King, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and the Black Panthers. And while they created movements that still carry forth today, systemic racism is still a lingering issue.

Black Lives Matter is an ongoing movement that stands to raise awareness to police brutality, not shut down law enforcement. The goal is to implement stricter laws on officers, fill in the loopholes that allow incidents like George Floyd’s murder to occur. (The difference this time was it was recorded.) Founded by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, it’s focus is to “campaign against violence and systemic racism towards black people” (Wikipedia). This is not a movement to eliminate law enforcement.

My older brother is a Marine veteran and current Boston police officer. So this post is coming from someone who’s family is involved in law enforcement. The march today was to show solidarity to the members of color in our community, and to those and the family members of those who’ve lost their lives to or been a victim of police brutality. That is the issue we’re tackling here. No, not all cops are bad. In fact, there’s many good ones. Yet, the few bad apples out there ruin it for the rest of them, and that’s where the fear of cops stems from in black people.

Tamir Rice was twelve years old when he was shot by an officer for playing with a toy gun. Trayvon Martin was seventeen years old when he was shot walking home from picking up candy for his little cousin because he “looked suspicious.” Breonna Taylor was twenty-six years old when she was shot in her own home when police arrived without a warrant, invading her home, and opening fire.

It isn’t just police officers that act out of racism. Hatred in society has also lead to many deaths. Nia Wilson was eighteen years old when she and her two sisters was attacked at a train station on their way home; she died when she was stabbed (I’m censoring the reality of her injuries to avoid trigger warnings). Ahmaud Arbery was twenty-five when he was shot going on a run through a neighborhood by two men who stereotyped him as a robber. An unnamed man in Georgia was publicly lynched in 2016. Hate crimes, brutality — the goal of Black Lives Matter is to terminate such atrocities that still do continue.

In my short life of seventeen years, I’ve been told to leave my school because it was a white school (by a faculty member), I’ve been called multiple racial slurs, I’ve been told the color of my skin looks like scat. I’ve dealt with micro aggressions my entire life, as well as outright racist comments intended to hurt me. I’ve been silenced, called the “angry black girl,” when all I wanted was equal treatment and representation.

Racism is still a thing. Systemic racism is still a thing. Four hundred years of oppression doesn’t magically disappear, we need to fight for it. ORR supporting a peaceful march intended to show support to black people here and around the nation is not an abuse of power, it is doing the right thing. Remember, “All lives can’t matter until black lives matter” (Unknown).

Jaeda Lopes
Marion