I’m angry. I’m an angry black man. That distinction is important. It’s important because both my anger and my blackness are things that make many of my supposed brothers and sisters in Christ not only uncomfortable but angry themselves. Its illogical on some levels but perfectly reasonable on others. The majority lives in a world in which they write the history books and where they suffer no consequences of being that majority. It’s a nice spot to be in. Typically black people understand this and most of us allow a certain level of grace and understanding when that majority bubble tends to color their view of the world — and in particular race relations — in a rosy tint. I must admit, however, that the amount of grace and understanding I have or maybe am just willing to give, is waning.
Over the past 24 hours cell phone video of police in Baton Rouge, LA shooting Alton Sterling at point blank range while positioned with knees in his back has once again enraged black Americans. It is another in a long line of killings at the hands of police officers who as a whole, have proven to not only not care about the lives of black Americans and particularly black men, but are more than willing to take those lives at a rate far higher than any other group. To be sure there are, I’m sure, plenty of individual police officers who care about the black community and black lives, but the famed Blue Wall of Silence along with the almost comical (if it weren’t so sad) inability of the criminal justice system to hold the murderers within their ranks accountable show that at the very least they are complicit in a system that has unequivocally proven that it will take black lives and will not punish those that do regardless of the circumstances. However as odd as it sounds, that is not why I am angry today. I knew all of those things before. I’ve been angry, afraid and saddened by those things for years. I have 6 sons. All are or will be black men in a society that deems that demographic dangerous and worthless. Those are my realities. No, what I’m angered by right now, despite knowing I should know better, is the response by many white ‘Christians’ to this tragedy.
When [Christian] rapper Lecrae (he’s apparently not always fond of that lable) recently posted a black and white picture of black men, women and children in a cotton field with the caption ‘My family on July 4th 1776’ on Twitter, the response from a number of his non-black followers was a mixture of ‘get over it’ and ‘you’re being divisive’. Of course we have no way of knowing actual numbers in terms of how many people felt that way, it is a prevailing sentiment seen whenever a black public figure makes a statement about racism or the realities faced by black Americans. Now the world is the world as I like to say and we can’t expect worldly folks to have Godly responses. Unfortunately those sentiments also are prevalent among many so called Christians. Lecrae’s audience is still largely evangelical Christians. I see ‘Christians’ regularly imploring black folks to get over the racism that still impacts us, to ‘calm down’ when we watch those that look like us being murdered by those supposed to protect us, and to stop being ‘divisive’ when we bring up the very issues that have kept us divided for so long. I am angry because I am sick and tired of being talked down to by those complicit in the oppression of black Americans. I am angry that so many can claim to follow Christ while ignoring the pain of His people. I am pissed off that people claim to not be racist while blaming ‘black culture’ or ‘hood/ghetto culture’ for the ills facing the black community while ignoring the fact that the hoods of America only exist because of the explicit racism of the cities, towns and states that purposefully created these areas. I am, frankly, no longer giving my white brothers and sisters a pass. Ignorance is one thing. Willful ignorance is another. You can’t have love for me while down talking my people. You can’t claim to care about justice while being simply okay with a system that places less value on my son’s lives than yours. You can’t be a friend of mine while not recognizing the humanity of Alton Sterling, Tamir Rice and countless others. No tree is only what you see above ground. All have roots that make them what they are and who they are. We don’t exist outside of our heritage and our race, we exist because of them and all that those things entail. How this society has treated and still treats black Americans and black men plays a large role in who I am as a person. So to those who don’t fully understand this yet and have black friends and family, understand this: You can’t take me without my blackness.
