June 5th, 2020

An American Virus

Racism is a virus that kills Black Americans. George Floyd’s brutal murder on Memorial Day weekend by four Minneapolis police officers is the most recent example of the police brutality and institutional racism that the Black community has suffered for decades in our country. While Black Americans make up only 13% of the population, they are 2.5 times as likely to be killed by police. More than a thousand people are killed by police every year, and in 99% of those cases police officers are neither charged nor convicted. We can only hope that the recent charging of the four police officers responsible for Mr. Floyd’s death will mark the beginning of a new era of police accountability.

The level of fear Black men experience when it comes to interactions with law-enforcement can be summed up in the story a Black mother shared at one of our events a few years ago. She spoke briefly about the racism she and her family had experienced in western Massachusetts, but she was more eager to share the pride she felt in her young adult son, who had recently begun college in Boston.

One of the first things this young man did upon arriving in Boston was to visit the local precinct. He introduced himself to the officers there so that they would know that he was just a college student. He explained that he did not want a routine encounter with the police to turn deadly because he was unfamiliar to them.

The police officers were stunned and deeply moved by this gesture, and the meeting ended with everyone holding hands and praying together.

Many of us who were there that day in Easthampton were forced to consider the ugly reality that this story exposed.

What does it say about us as a society that a young Black man has to prove his humanity to those in authority, simply to stay alive?

While police accountability is paramount, the reckoning that is required in this moment should not only be limited to law-enforcement. Even as we work to dismantle structures of oppression that perpetuate racism in our institutions, it is also time to reckon with the racism within ourselves, our families, our faith communities, our organizations, and our schools.

We are infected. In order to heal, we have to know better, be better, and do better.

Warm regards,
Mehlaqa Samdani

RESOURCES:

CAMPAIGN ZERO: An organization dedicated to ending police brutality through data-driven policies and initiatives. Their most recent initiative, 8 Can't Wait,outlines 8 policies that are proven to reduce police violence by 72% - demand action from your local representatives and police chiefs around these measures.

EMBRACE RACE: An Amherst-based national organization that facilitates conversations around race, particularly geared towards parents, educators, and caregivers--check out their work and sign up for their webinars

THE TRUTH SCHOOL: The Sojourner Truth School for Social Change offers anti-racism workshops across western MA--all their classes are taught by people of color.

INDIVISIBLE: Their TAKING ACTION IN SOLIDARITY WITH BLACK LIVES MATTER page offers a wide range of resources, as well as specific calls for legislative action.