Editor’s note: This article is an opinion piece, written by ASU liberal arts and engineering student Darrell Jackson. The opinions expressed in this article are his own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Downtown Devil.
I was taught Independence Day is the day the USA was founded. Who was independent? Native Americans were getting slaughtered and slaves were in chains, forced to work stolen land for free. They were not independent of any tyranny. Roughly 100 years passed before the 13th Amendment was added to the Constitution, freeing slaves. Thirteen years later, Jim Crow laws were enacted, segregating people of color. This division swelled maltreatment of Black people for another 100+ years. Slavery is still young, Jim Crow is young.
I’ve had awful experiences with law enforcement. I was twelve when ticketed for walking my dirt bike, engine on, to the bayou behind my neighborhood. The white officer said to my white friend, “This is Christmas for you” to my white friend and ticketed me.
I was fifteen when an officer pulled behind me walking home. He ticketed me for not being on the sidewalk. That officer continued to harass me on other occasions. I filed a complaint with the Harris County Sheriff’s department. He once came to my home while my mother and I were outside, gave us an insidious mean-mug, then sped off.
I have friends who have had far worse experiences. One was slammed against a car, another was shot dead while an officer responded to a noise complaint. At his house, the officer said he smelled marijuana, tried to arrest my friend, a scuffle occurred, and the officer fatally shot him.
I’ve seen people have their lives taken by police so long, it desensitized the emotion I felt.
George Floyd’s murder scared me. He’s from my hometown. Our high school football teams competed. He was not resisting and he was still killed. I found myself wondering why armed police, trained for war, were sent to investigate a counterfeit bill complaint. Police have killed 5,000 people in the US since 2015. Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, Daniel Shaver and so many others did not deserve death.
I believe there is a lack of compassion. Many look for someone to blame instead of analyzing what’s happening and why. Instances of white kids reenacting George Floyd’s death have surfaced. Other incidents of police brutality were highlighted and people started researching victims to see if they deserved death based on character.
A tragedy used to be a tragedy for all, now people are divided and retreat to factions. Opinions have become transparent. You can determine much about someone from a single statement made.
I have friends who are conservative. Many of them in no uncertain terms, made it clear to me that I need to shut up. They wanted me to stop speaking out against the racism, injustice, systemic failure, police brutality, offensive memorials, statues and holidays that have protesters demanding reform.
Black Lives Matter’s position resonates with me. Statues, monuments, and memorialized currency can be problematic. They represent people in time who lacked morality.
I was taught in school that Sally Hemings was Thomas Jefferson’s mistress. She was not his mistress. She was his slave. He owned 700 and he used them for sex. Hemings was 14, Jefferson was 44. It triggers disbelief when people learn of the details because they were unaware. Jefferson wrote “All men are created equal”, while simultaneously enslaving people and violating women. He is memorialized on our currency, but he does not represent values I share.
Andrew Jackson was an actual slave trader. He profited from the breeding, processing, and shipping of slaves across America. This “trafficking in human flesh” was unconscionable, yet Jackson’s face is memorialized on our $20 bill. I do not share his values as his evil practices lacked morality.
When I look at Mount Rushmore, I wonder what values are represented. Monuments are created to set standards for society. However, the faces on Mount Rushmore are questionable for moral standards. What they stood for do not represent my values.
Black lives should matter without it being a debate. However, our history shows that Black lives didn’t always matter. It hit me as I watched people celebrate Independence Day. I thought of what it symbolizes. On July 4, 1776, 20% of America’s population were enslaved. These slaves were hideously abused and forced to work stolen land. Slaves built this nation, yet there is not a single Black face on our currency memorializing their contributions.
At least 12 of our 45 US presidents owned slaves, and we still memorialize them. Putting up statues of confederate generals, slave owners, slave traders, and violators of women in the communities of the people, whose ancestors they victimized, is unacceptable. It should not matter how normal something was considered at the time, we shouldn’t be celebrating and idolizing things rooted in evil or people who were a part of it. We should be idolizing and celebrating those who set themselves apart from it. That’s something I can identify with.
History is washed such that kids learn slaves were not slaves, but “immigrants” and “migrant workers”. This washing of America’s history to make it clean, is insulting to Black Americans. The broken system leads to severe inequality, an unbalanced scale that weighs and defines what is taught based on what state you live and your address. School funding relies on property values and poorer communities suffer as a result.
The broken system wrecks cities like Chicago and Detroit. They are the worst for inequality. Redlining of districts keeps people segregated as kids in disadvantaged communities face systemic racism fortifying the status quo. Underfunded schools close, sending kids to schools with overcrowded classrooms.
Systemic problems deter disadvantaged youths from going to college. They have idle hands as they get into gangs, participate in violence, get put in jail, and come out un-rehabilitated. They can’t find employment, 43% get put back in jail, and come out well educated in crime. The system failed them as they ended up becoming felons with multiple convictions and getting murdered in the street.
People are upset and fired up. There is an outcry for change. The largest movement in US history has millions of Americans marching in solidarity through a global pandemic. The fact that it takes video of innocent people unjustly killed by law enforcement to go viral before there is a national outcry is sad.
Black Lives Matter protests have continued for weeks in places like downtown Phoenix. On several occasions, peaceful protests have been broken up with teargas and excessive force by Phoenix police—one of the most violent police departments in the country.
On the same day George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis, a DPS trooper shot and killed a 28-year-old Black man named Dion Johnson in Phoenix after stopping him for a suspected DUI.
Numerous complaints and lawsuits are filed against law enforcement. The complaints do little while officers become even more brutal. In 2018, Phoenix PD fired more bullets at people than New York, Philadelphia, and Dallas, some of the nation’s largest cities.
When people across the world unite for Black lives, they get told all lives matter. This lack of compassion leads to division and civil unrest.
Mistreatment of Black people in America has been consistent as atrocities go unaccounted for. We see veterans survive Iraq to have their lives taken away by police at home.
Systemic failure needs systemic reform. Our moral compass needs recalibration. We need unity that celebrates and memorializes those who did things right.
Lack of compassion and understanding keeps voices unheard. Division and unrest causes riots and looting.
We need change fast. We need leadership with open ears. America is broken. However, with systemic change, we can make America safe again.
Contact the reporter at dej@asu.edu.
Correction: July 23, 2020: Due to an error made in the editing process, it was stated that a Phoenix Police Officer shot and killed Dion Johnson. It was, in fact, a State Trooper, though the Phoenix Police Department has been deeply involved in this case.
