Leonard Pitts: If 'good' white people don't decry Arbery's death, then, maybe, you're not that good

[babylonsister]

https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article242570006.html

If ‘good’ white people don’t decry Arbery’s death, then, maybe, you’re not that good | Opinion
By Leonard Pitts Jr.
May 08, 2020 04:06 PM, Updated May 08, 2020 05:00 PM

snip//

It was not until Thursday, two days after release of the video triggered a national chorus of condemnation raining down on the tiny south Georgia county, that the McMichaels were finally jailed. It had taken 74 days. Seventy-four days. And will that bring justice? This is America, so don’t hold your breath.

If that sounds bitter, well, bitterness seems an entirely appropriate response to what was captured in that video. Meaning not just another murder of another unarmed man, but yet another iteration of the eternal, infernal arrogance that infects so much of white America, this notion that a white man or woman has the divine right to require any given black person to justify their presence and activities.

“Why are you barbecuing in that public park?”

“Why are you swimming in that public pool?”

“Why are you jogging down that public street bothering no one, minding your own damn business?”

All white people? No. Of course not. But more white people than many white people would readily concede.

And the very need to place that disclaimer, the recognition that without it — and likely, even with it — some white readers will go away clutching their pearls about my supposed “racism” toward them, speaks volumes. Racism is not hurt feelings. It is systematized oppression that bars you from opportunity and steers you toward calamity every waking day from cradle to grave, that allows you to be murdered on camera, in cold blood in broad daylight - and your assailants to be home in time for dinner.

Trayvon, Tamir, Michael, Philando, John, Amadou, Ahmaud — it’s enough. It’s too much.

And all the “good” white people who needed the disclaimer, who needed their blamelessness acknowledged, must understand that it’s not enough that you’re able to avoid getting caught on video being a racist jerk.

No, ask yourself: What am I doing to dismantle a system of privilege that oppresses others while advantaging me every waking day from cradle to grave? What am I doing to help my brothers and sisters be free?

Black people are dying to know.

[ProfessorGAC]

1. K&R!

I always enjoyed Leonard Pitts. This is a good piece.

[Proud liberal 80]

2. The comments section

Always the worst in society....smh

[Solly Mack]

3. K&R

[lostnfound]

4. It's outrageous. Sick of sharing the planet with white racist americans

Sick of reading another tragic story
Sick of the morons in this country that destroy all that is possible, destroy the freedom and happiness that would come from a non-racist decent culture
Sick of America failing to live up to its touted character

I have no idea what to do that would change it
I don’t believe protests are useful anymore
I don’t have faith in the system or faith in my “fellow Americans”

[abqtommy]

5. OK. I confess, I am considered a white man so I guess I am/must be one. Since I'm older now

and reflect frequently on my life my own judgment is that I haven't always been as good as I wanted to be. I admit there are times when I behaved with a racial/ethnic bigotry but that was before...before I
knew better.

Today I'm not a racist or a bigot. Even with my other flaws I see the positive things to be gained by
embracing everyone on earth as a member of My Family. I will not accept the continuing murder
of my family members like Ahmaud Arbery. If you doubt this then try me.

I've heard that the best temperance leaders are reformed drunks. If that's so then maybe the most effective anti-racist is a reformed, not necessarily "good", racist. Hey, that's me!

[Ligyron]

7. Ya know what?

Me too...

On a tangent judging people by their appearance: did we all get a good look at those 2 murderers pics? The son looks like the stereotypical poster boy for the KKK. What a goober...

[Alacritous Crier]

6. K&R

[Dustlawyer]

8. When I was 12 and starting middle school, my school district desegregated, sort of.

I was sent to a previously all black school. After desegregation it was still 97% black, 2% white, and 1% other. My name became “white boy” and I was in fights for my life. A kid down my street was brain damaged a quadriplegic. I saw broken equipment at our school that were hand me downs from the “white” middle school in our district. Our teachers predominantly sucked, with some notable exceptions. It got so dangerous we had to move.

I could have turned into a full on racists at my treatment. Instead, I learned that I did not like being treated badly just because of the color of my skin. I also learned a lot about black culture. In the end I also learned that these kids were really like me in what they liked, dreamed of...everything. Prior to that year I never really thought about it. Now I saw how they were not treated fairly. There was no reason that school should have been so bad facility and teacher wise.

Now when I hear a white person say crap like they (blacks) have the same opportunity as me I set them straight right away. It has never been the same. There may have been “separate” but never equal!

[crickets]

9. K&R

[c-rational]

10. K&R. "This is America so don't hold your breath." Unfortunately so true, another iteration.

There was a chilling Book Review in the New Yorker's April 27th issue, "City Limits", What a white-supremacist coup looks like by Caleb Crain. It reports that on November 10, 1898 , just after Election Day, white supremacists overthrew the city government of Wilmington, North Carolina and forced the resignation of the mayor, the aldermen and the chief of police, who were all black. The white mob then burned down the office an an African-American newspaper and killed an unknown number of black townspeople.

The truth of this travesty was finally recovered in 1951 by two black historians. As the review states, memory and understanding alone are morally ambiguous- in my words whites need more than a history lesson. In 2018 North Carolina passed an amendment that limited the vote to holders of state-issued ID's. This measure reprises the kind of obstacle to black voter registration cleared away in 1985 (by the Fusionists), and restored by white supremacists in 1899. The article concludes with the sentence"Merely remembering the past will hardly stop those who are trying to repeat it."

What am I doing is a very good question.

[Faux pas]

11. Kickin' for Truth