Death Abounds

Engl 165-04 Fall '22, Engl 165-16 Fall '22, March Blog Prompt

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The main event that stuck out to me was the bombing of the church. The bombing stood out because black people were just leading their everyday lives attending church as normal and were disrupted by ignorance and white supremacy. It was truly disheartening because an incident quite similar to this happened, except it wasn’t a bomb, but a gun.

To inflict this type of pain upon humans is monstrous. It is truly sad that they were literally just in the middle of Sunday service never intending that something like that would happen, but then it did. It resulted in the injury of 21 black children and killng four beautiful young girls who were probably no older than 16. Instead of the police providing protecting and investigating why the bombing happened, they ignored it and carried on with their lives. The killing didn’t stop and justice was never served. Two more boys, Virgil Lamar, 13 and Johnny Robinson, 16 were involved in racially motivated assaults. Virgil Lamar was shot down by a group of teenage boys who were in the Eagle Scouts and these boys had just attended a KKK meeting prior. Johnny Robinson, was gunned down by the police, unprovoked, but because he was a black boy they ruled his death as an accident.

In today’s society, however, incidents like these are common. A black childs death never makes the news and IF it does there is usually no context behind the murder. It is ruled as an accident or the white man, was simply just ‘protecting’ themselves. Recently there was a 15 year old boy, Jahiem McMillan, who was handcuffed to the ground and shot in the head by policemen. The murder did not reach the news and when the parents asked to see their child the police officer was adamant on keeping them from viewing him. The officer lied and pronounced that he was brain dead when he was actually dead. No matter how many years has passed the struggle to protect Black Lives has not been any easier. If anything it is more dangerous for black boys and men to roam the streets past a certain time without being looked at negatively or as if they are livestock. The killings never stopped and it really makes you wonder if anything has really changed. If we, as black people, will ever be on the same footing as white people

 

 
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What Would You Do?

Engl 165-04 Fall '22

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Honestly, the level of violence in this week’s reading shook me to my core. As I sat there scanning over the gruesome depictions of these events, I couldn’t help but think, “This makes me sick.” The thought of people suffering these horrendous crimes was enough to make my stomach churn. That’s how I fell deeper into my thoughts. What would I do if I were in that situation? Would I be able to take it without fighting back like they did? Would I run away? Or would I even be involved in the first place?

The thought of having to live in the past is always an interesting one. Putting yourself in the shoes of the people that came before us is something I find myself doing often. Thinking about the actions I would’ve taken really put things into perspective. These people did not fight back. Their peaceful protests spoke louder than any violence they could’ve shown in return. It showed the real extent of how far they would go for their freedom. Every time I imagined myself in that position, I couldn’t help but cringe at the thought. Being spit on, stepped on, beaten half to death, have slurs shouted in my face. All of those things made me gain a new level of respect for them.

It’s hard to picture myself in those situations. It’s hard to picture those situations now. What’s even crazier however, is knowing that there are people fighting these same battles today. These same battles that we thought had come to an end, are still being fought. There are clear parallels between the freedom riders and the Black Lives Matter protests. Their choice to protest peacefully and be met with unnecessary violence is identical. I can confidently say that people today are willing to go even further when fighting for these causes.

 

The Hypocrisy of Southerners

Engl 165-16 Fall '22, March Blog Prompt

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In March, the Freedom Riders were trying to see the Ten Commandments movie in a theater that doesn’t allow black people in their theater. Anytime someone asks to purchase a ticket they are not allowed to and you see people talk about them while just standing in line. This goes against what the ten commandments actually ask of a person. The ninth commandment states “thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor” yet everyone in line to see the movie judges the black people just because they are black. It is hard to miss the irony of how the white people react and gossip about the protesters when they are supposed to be seeing a movie where one rule they are supposed to follow is to not judge the people around you or make assumptions and gossip. The movie follows Moses freeing his people from slavery and their oppression which is very similar to what the Freedom Riders are having to deal with. Yet white people are the ones who watch this movie and then leave and still treat black people horribly. 

Even though everyone who participated in the stand-ins were peaceful, police would show up and scream in their faces. This is similar to how cops dealt with protestors in the BLM movement. When they peacefully protested the police would still aggravate people and try to force them to leave. So much about what is being protested in March is the same as today’s BLM movement. In March they are protesting for abolishment of segregation in the south. The BLM protests are about the mistreatment of black people by the police and both involved peaceful protests that the police would always get in the way of. The people in both instances practice peaceful protests which is a constitutional right as stated by the First Amendment. 

 
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