My Voice Doesn't Matter

The first thing I have to say is that my voice does not matter.

I have watched, heartbroken, at the murders, because that is what happened, of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.

Two men, two days, two needless and unlawful murders.  Because again, that is what happened.  But these are not the only examples of police officers who have shot down innocent people for no reason.

Michael Brown.  Sandra Bland.  Freddie Gray.  Trayvon Martin.  The list literally goes on and on and on.

In 2015 police killed at least 102 unarmed black people in 2015, that is 5 times the rate of unarmed whites.  37% of the unarmed people in 2015 that were killed by police were black, despite being only 13% of the population.

As a white person, these are statistics that do not affect me.  My privilege as a white person allows me to quote these statistics to you in the knowledge that this will never happen to me.  I will never be treated this way.  

I will never be presumed automatically guilty because I am white.  I will never have to watch my boyfriend die while I film as Diamond Reynolds did, for fear that the police will kill me and my child.  I will never be shot and killed whilst not resisting arrest. 

White serial killers are bought hamburgers after killing a church full of people.  Black men are being shot and killed for traffic violations.  

As a white person, I have many privileges.  This is why my voice does not matter.  You should not be listening to me.  I am not experiencing this prejudice.  This racial profiling.  Who you should be listening to are the black men and black women who are subjected to this, day in and day out.

I feel uncomfortable writing this.  Because I am talking about things that I do not know and have never experienced.  But when I see people saying things like "All Lives Matter" and coming up with ridiculous excuses for white officers shooting black people, I have to say something.  Because it is wrong.  So fucking wrong.

As white people we are so unbelievably privileged.  In ways that many cannot seem to comprehend.  So what should we do?  Listen to the people whom this is happening to.  Learn from them.  Fight against prejudice.  Speak up.  Force change to happen.

The problem is us.  Our privilege.  We are the ones that need to change. My voice does not matter.  Listen to the people that do. 

Sandra Bland

I have talked about many different subjects on this blog over the years.  I have never been afraid to write about any subject, but one subject that I have not covered so far are issues of race.  As Leah has written on her blog, the truth is that I was scared.

I did not know enough, I was frightened of getting things wrong; saying the wrong thing.  I did not want to stay silent and many times my fingers would be hovering over the keyboard as time after time I read about another black life needlessly lost.  I was so concerned about saying the right thing that I said nothing at all.

But this lady has made me face my fears and speak to you today.  Sandra Bland.

Source

Sandra was pulled over for not indicating a lane change.  In Waller County where Sandra was pulled over, 29.1% of the drivers who were pulled for a traffic stop were black, despite black people only making up 26% of the county's population - source  Texas has a long, long history with racism,

Sandra was ordered out of her vehicle, threatened with a taser, had her head slammed to the ground; was arrested and three days later she was dead.  They claim that Sandra hung herself, but there are many questions surrounding this, one of the harrowing being that she may have already been dead when her mugshot was taken.

Why was the video footage edited?  Why was her mugshot not taken with the same background as every single other mugshot (the background being the same colour as the cell floor).  Why does it look like she is lying on the floor?  Why did the version of how she supposedly hung herself change?

There are so many questions and not many answers.

Check out the below links:

What Happened to Sandra Bland

Sandra Bland: 5 Fast Facts

I have read story after story of unarmed black people being physically assaulted and killed by officers in the US.  Yet at the same time we see people like Dylann Roof who was arrested, given a bullet proof vest for his protection and given a Burger King.

Sandra Bland's name needs to be remembered.  She is not a statistic.