I Don’t Want to Become a Hashtag
Many of my academic friends are having a hard time concentrating. I thought about not saying anything about this, but I changed my mind. I am going to say something because people in universities may not understand what Black people are going through in the U.S.
In August 2020, when Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back, WNBA, NB, MLB, and Major League soccer players took a stand against injustice by boycotting games. These players walked away from their jobs unapologetically, with some players stating that they might not continue playing that season. This was a radical move for people who have lived and played sports in new ways to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
I felt this protest to my core. The issue is that we, as Black Americans, believe that every right that is in the constitution is afforded to us. We believe that our ancestors fought for us to receive these rights. We believe that the laws of this land and the laws of organizations are laws for all of us and that we are going to be treated equitably and with respect.
When we see that intricate policies have been written, yet they apply to a few or are not actual policies, and when we see that we are not treated equitably because of our skin color or because of something that we may not even be able to describe, it shakes us. It shakes us when the people who are consistently being targeted and are fearful and terrorized look like us. Every time, they look like us. Why?
At this point, many Black people are hurting. It’s hard to concentrate. It’s hard to continue business as usual, because we do not know if we are safe. We do not know if the law will be fair and will defend us if we need to be defended. We do not know if our family members are going to come home at the end of the day.
What is happening in our country is serious. And whether it affects you or not, we ask you to respect Black brothers and sisters who are questioning what our lives are going to look like and what our children’s and grandchildren’s lives are going to look like in the future. Respect and understand that we are seeking solutions that will increase our life expentancy and will allow us to rest easier at night.
You may be wondering what you can do- what you can really do. Be open. Be open to our hunger for justice. Be open to what we are saying and the fervency with which we are sharing out messages. Even if it is not your experience and your identity is not centered in our calls for justice, empathize and listen to people who are very much traumatized by circumstances that continue to happen in this nation.
Also note that people are concerned because if something happens to any one of us, we can become hashtags. If we become hashtags, will people justify our killing? Will they say that we deserved death? Will they declare that our rights don’t matter because someone who attacked us is favored in a system that has traditionally ignored us?
Even if we aren’t perfect and don’t fit a mold that people think that we should, we deserve justice. Don’t ever deny us that.
The reality is that many of us don’t trust that we will receive justice in a system that not only targets Black bodies but doesn’t denounce the brutality that is more likely to come our way because of our demographics.
All of this is complex. Stay strong, be thoughtful, and be compassionate.
Let’s do better together, America.
