Is White Privilege and Racism Creating Black Power and Unity?

 By Roger Caldwell

      With the death of George Floyd and the indictment of racist police officers, America is forced to examine its system of trust and integrity. It is very easy to indict the entire police force, and write everyone off as racist police, but the Chief in Minneapolis is a Black man. Not only is the Chief Black, but he and four other Black Minneapolis policemen sued the Department of Police for racism in 2007.

This may appear not to make any sense, but my father always told me that Blacks must fight a racist society from the inside and from the outside. The system in Minneapolis was definitely broken from the inside, and to change something from the inside, it helps to be a member.

The more people on the inside that are educated and understand the workings of the system, the more people the Black community has in its corner to  depend on. Many White people are privileged to be born White, and from the start of their life, they have advantages. They live in the same communities, they belong to the same country club, they go to the same schools and churches.

Some know they are racists based on the laws they are making, but the majority are busy being White, in their White communities, in their White schools, White churches, and White businesses.

The George Floyd trial is an indictment on America. Floyd’s death challenged Americans to address racism in its most fundamental form, the police. On a daily basis Black men are guilty before a trial, and they are killed for a broken tail light, or walking down the street.

When Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo filed a civil suit in 2007 with four other Black officers, the system was broken, and the majority of the White officers were engaged in serious misconduct. There is something wrong, when the people who take an oath to protect the law, actually break the law.

This breaking the law by policeman in Minneapolis not only occurs there, but also across the country. There is a warrior mentality by the police in almost every Black community, and excessive force is the mentality in the streets. Derek Chauvin had 18 complaints against him prior to the incident with George Floyd. The question must be asked if he was a good policeman, or should he have been fired a long time ago.

In 2021, the organization, and the slogan “Black Lives Matter,” had taken over the country and the world. This organization is bringing Blacks together with people of color, progressive Whites, and people of all ages. Liberation is a complicated subject, but Black Lives Matter’s mission is to eradicate White Supremacy in all its forms.

Black Lives Matter was started in 2013 after the acquittal of Travon Martin’s murder. Since then the organization has grown to be national and global. The old/new civil rights organizations such as the NAACP, Urban League, Black Churches, Color of Change, My Brother’s Keeper, Black Universities, Black Athletes, and another 35 organizations are collaborating and creating a unified base.

Black people in America are sick and tired of not being acknowledged as rightful citizen of America and the world. “We are working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically targeted for demise. We affirm our humanity, our contributions to this society, and resilience in the face of deadly oppression,” says Black Lives Matter.

Black power and unity is no longer just a slogan, but it is a systematic program where Blacks are working everyday to change their community, their state, America, and the world. Blacks are creating a movement, based on change, and there is now unity, and Black power is on the agenda. People of color are members, White People are members, and anyone who believes in eradicating White supremacy and racism is allowed to be a member.