Dear fellow white progressives,
Please, consider what I'm about to say with an open heart, knowing that my desire is to inspire a dialogue we need to have in order a) for all of us to become true allies in the fight for justice for black Americans, and b) for Bernie Sanders to have any hope of winning the Democratic nomination.
And so ...
Saying that black Americans had better stop disrupting political events is the modern-day equivalent of saying black Americans should never have repeatedly marched on City Hall in Birmingham in 1963, demanding one thing: to be treated fairly, like their white counterparts.
Saying that black Americans are screwing themselves by disrupting political events is the modern-day equivalent of saying black Americans screwed themselves by protesting the Democratic National Convention in 1960 and the hundreds of other political events protested and disrupted during the Civil Rights movement.
Saying black activists should ... you'd be wise not to, for it is precisely these types of pronouncements which make clear that black Americans MUST continue to scream for justice, scream to be heard, scream to have white Democrats care more about their deaths than the tactics being used or the political events being interrupted to expose them.
But why Bernie Sanders? I hear you say.
Yes, Bernie Sanders is a politician worth supporting, with a strong civil rights record, and I will likely be voting for him. And yes, it may be disheartening to see his events be disrupted, knowing the man's heart. However, you know what is more disheartening? To see black Americans gunned down on a weekly basis, as just happened to an unarmed college football player named Christian Taylor.
And so why Bernie Sanders? It needs to be stated that these disruptions are a function of several factors, including (but not limited to) the following:
- Sanders' events are large and dynamic, creating a perfect platform for protesters' voices to be heard ― voices which larges swaths of society want silenced.
- Sanders needs to do better – he may have a solid civil rights record, but he has yet to produce a comprehensive policy proposal for any number of issues having to do with black oppression at the hands of law enforcement and the justice system.
- White progressives are demonstrating, by yelling about tactics and wanting to throw people in jail, that they – Bernie Sanders supporters – are exactly the audience which needs to be targeted, and will continue to be targeted. Because if white progressives don't get it, who will?
Now, this isn't to say that the issue of tactics and their efficacy cannot be discussed. They can indeed. But the moment white liberals begin a sentence with, "They should stop ..." the discussion is over. The unintentional echoes of slave masters ringing. The word boy reverberating.
It's there. You may not hear those echoes, but that's only because they're not ringing in your ears.
And so the time to disrupt begins. Again.
This is a difficult subject, and my intention here isn't to give it a proper treatment. I have not, obviously. But I hope that this post will at least spark some reflection and then discussion about how we can move forward together.
All of us, no matter the color.
Signed,
David Harris-Gershon
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David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoir What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, recently published by Oneworld Publications.