By Vaughn R. Wilson
It is hard for anyone who is not Black to understand the plight of being a Black person in America on a daily basis. It carries with it burdens unfathomable to other races. No other race is assaulted and preyed upon in so many areas in ordinary existence than Blacks are in America. While some of the very individuals who engage in this oppressive behavior tout the red, white and blue American flag, their very actions are counter to the principles of the formation of the union of states formally organized in 1776.
On one front, the very right to vote in an unbridled manner is under attack. No other race got together on Sundays after church to vote in elections in any comparable formation than Blacks. A part of the push for the church to get Blacks involved in the electoral process has been to sacrifice some of the time dedicated to church service, where large pockets of Blacks gathered and march them to the polls to vote. Using the moniker “Souls to the polls,” not a single church would endorse a candidate or push who parishioners should vote for. Instead the activity was used to encourage members to participate in the electoral process. In several attacks on this Black church activity, that option has been removed for one reason. Blacks turned out in record numbers and a part of the reason that the Senate, House and presidency swayed parties in 2020 was perceived to be the massive voting of Blacks. As a recourse for the success of Black pastors’ encouragement of voters to participate, legislators have decided that they would no longer allow something that should be considereda basic American freedom to be suppressed.
On another front, basic protection from excessive force by police appeared to decline at one point, but even after the horrendous George Floyd public lynching, newly-formed invasion of rights still face battles in court even when evidence points directly to evidence that Blacks’ rights have been violated. In cases too numerous to list, it is evident that the justice system simply does not guarantee basic rights to Blacks the way it does non-Blacks. Blacks, especially men, are targets of unwarranted harassment and in a split-second have to decide whether to be right or to live.
Last week, a bus of Delaware State’s women’s lacrosse team was searched like a south Florida cigar boat streaking through the waters illegally trafficking from Cuba or Columbia. The young ladies were returning home from a game when Georgia authorities stopped the bus because of what they deemed was an illegal vehicular move. Somehow the incident went from a routine traffic stop to a full-fledged search of the bus filled with intimidation to the young ladies. Even these young ladies, who were doing nothing wrong, were targeted to exude a forceful authority on.
Being Black means something as simple as going to the grocery store cannot be taken for granted. Fueled by a theory pushed by a network who makes millions off of its viewership, a young white man, according to his wealth of documentation, was acting out on a bizarre theory that he as a white man was in jeopardy because of Black people. Filled with this and other conspiracy theories pushed by the irresponsible network, the youngster who could not distinguish reality from the theories pushed just to earn money, he effectively ended the lives of 10 Black people going about their business of shopping for their families. No one was armed, no one was there to harm others. They were there performing a ritual of life in choosing nourishment to survive on. Because yet another assault on Blacks, we are left to mourn while a killer was calmly escorted to his detention center to await trial. The sad part is the stress of Black folks didn’t end when the bullets stopped. There have been so many unfathomable rulings in court that Blacks will not cease to be stressed until that young man is punished fairly by the judicial system.
The saying “It’s a Black thing you wouldn’t understand,” could not be more relevant than right now. It is hard just being a Black person in America. The sad part is it has nothing to do with what you do on a daily basis. You can be an upstanding citizen with an impeccable record of service to the community, service to the military or service to the church and still have to remain on high alert for your life at all times. Designated as the protectors of the family, God bless the Black males who carry the responsibility of his family’s safety.
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