black, unarmed, and dangerous

I know you’ve heard the story of Mike Brown, the teenager who was shot by a police officer in Ferguson, MO. He was unarmed. So were Eric Garner, Oscar Grant, Wendell Allen, and others, along with Renisha McBride, Rekia Boyd, Shantel Davis, and others. All of these names are heavy with the weight of the events surrounding their last moments on this earth. These names resonate deeply with me and leave with me a paralyzing sadness, fear, and rage. Not necessarily because of police brutality or because of militant citizens “standing their ground”, but because of my black skin. When I, my brothers, and my sisters go out into the world, we are dangerous. It doesn’t matter if we wear hoodies or business suits. It doesn’t matter if we speak proper English or slang. It doesn’t matter if we are drunk or sober. It doesn’t matter if we’ve committed a crime or prevented one. We still have black skin, and we are dangerous.

I know that some will disagree. Some will not see value in my words. Some will not be able to relate to this discussion because they have not had experiences with anti-black racism and they never will. They will never know the feeling of being hyper-visible beneath the gaze of law enforcement, store clerks, security guards, or home owners in nice white neighborhoods, and know undeniably that it is because of the color of your skin. They will never know what it is like to be hated and feared for simply existing in your black body in a public space. See, the public space is a white space. We invade whiteness and we need to be stopped. Our invasion of the white space is an assault on whiteness; it violates the concept of what whiteness is and the belief that no one else should have access to it, especially not the black body.

The black body is a hyper-sexual beast. Black men defile and offend pure white women. Emmett Till learned his lesson at fourteen. Black female slaves were sexual savages. They stole their faithful white owners away from their white mistresses, seducing their rapists with their exotic black sexuality. Patsey faced the consequences for enticing Edwin Epps away from his wife.

The black body is a hyper-aggressive thug. Richard Sherman exemplifies the thuggish demeanor when he dominates on the field and when he declares his greatness in interviews. It’s no question that Trayvon Martin was a thug who deserved to get shot. The world is better without him. Even President Obama is a thug and a threat to U.S. freedoms. A black man does not belong in the White House.

The black body is predatory. Lock your doors if you ever find yourself in a black neighborhood, or, better yet, download a helpful navigation app so that you never find yourself in a poor black neighborhood to begin with. Walk on the other side of the street if you see one of us coming towards you. Scoot to the back corner of the elevator so that you can keep your eye on us. Clutch your purse tight so we don’t steal it.

The black body is a thief and liar. It invades and pilfers whiteness. Robert Brown and Trayon Christian were both arrested in expensive stores where they did not belong, purchasing items that they were not supposed to have. Dishonest and dangerous black men cannot afford designer belts or designer sunglasses. His only recourse is to steal them. Receipt in hand is not enough to convince the police that he is not stealing merchandise. He is not a credible source to relay information about his own life. He cannot be trusted.

The black body is criminal. It needs to be punished, expelled, and incarcerated at much higher rates than others in order to protect the nation state. Black children are sources of conflict and tension in the classroom when performing the same actions as other students, who are creative and imaginative. They take their rightful places in detention centers while their classmates remain in school to complete their education. Capitalism thrives on black non-violent offenders disproportionately filling the cells of privately owned prisons. They used to sell black bodies. Now, they cell black bodies. They fill the cells to fill their pockets.

The black body is rebellious. Black slaves revolted against their benevolent masters. Nat Turner revolted. Malcolm X revolted. There is a chance that we will all revolt against our benevolent nation state. We must be contained. Peaceful protests must be stopped with dogs, tear gas, and bullets. We are a threat and we must be contained.

Black bodies are dangerous because they are black bodies. This, unfortunately, is how many people view the world. And so, in the wake of the recent shootings of Ezell Ford, Armand Bennett, John Crawford, and Mike Brown, all too familiar stories, I am saddened, I am fearful, and I am enraged. To many, my black skin is a weapon. It is dangerous. They will say that they feared for their lives and they will shoot me down because of it.