'Being black is having to be comfortable about feeling uncomfortable.' Photo: Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona / Unsplash
‘For me, being black is being afraid to leave a shop without buying anything.’
Racism is not just a US problem says Bonnie Gibberd, who has grown up with it in Exeter
My name is Bonnie, I am a fifteen-year-old black girl. I am writing to you to try to inspire you and open your minds.
On 25 May, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, George Floyd was killed when a policeman kneeled on his neck. That’s what this article is about. Initially, the officers who did this weren’t arrested. But since then protests have been taking place all over the USA and other countries, demanding justice. This has resulted in the policeman who did this being charged with second-degree murder (the other officers present, who didn’t stop him or say anything, are being charged with aiding and abetting).
Alongside the protests, people are using social media to make others aware of what is happening. But there are still people who disagree with the Black Lives Matter movement. This makes no sense to me. How can ‘black lives matter’ be a controversial statement? We are not saying that other people’s lives do not matter, we are simply saying that, right now, black lives need to be put in the spotlight. We need to raise our voices because black people are dying daily, because of racists.
If you’re asking why I am telling you about something that happened in the US, I am saying that what happened is due to global racism (and the police being corrupt) and that has got to change. Racism is a worldwide problem but if we all work together we can slowly get rid of it, and everyone can be treated equally. You may think that Exeter, my hometown, or the UK in general, doesn’t have racism, but I can assure you that it does.
As a black girl, I have experienced racism as I’ve grown up – not in a physical way, but much more subtle. I know there is nothing you can do to change this but I beg that you help to change the way society is today, so future kids don’t go through what I and black people have gone through over the past 213 years in the UK. This is what I have experienced living in Exeter:
• being called ‘pretty for a black girl’
• being called ‘brownie’
• being followed around a store and town
• being threatened with the police by a store owner because I supposedly broke a chocolate bar
• being questioned as to why I was catching a train, to the point that I missed it; all I was doing was going to see my dad.
Do you still believe that Exeter doesn’t have racism?
Now you, your kids and your family might be on social media speaking up already, signing petitions and using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. But that’s now not enough. I don’t know the colour of your skin or your nationality or what you’ve been through or are going through, but I hope this helps you to understand how I feel, and how other black people feel worldwide.
You might not know how it feels to be a member of an ethnic minority who is easily identified in a crowd. You might not know how it feels to be given weird looks in shops. You might not know the anxiety you experience when people walk past you whispering racist remarks and grinning. If you don’t know how any of these things feel then you have privilege, white privilege.
What is white privilege?
White privilege is an inherited advantage possessed by a white person in a society that is characterised by racial inequalities and injustices. It is not what your economic status is or where you were born or grew up. White privilege is being pretty and not ‘pretty for a black girl’. White privilege is to have twenty-five shades of beige and only five shades of chocolate. White privilege is being able to speak on any topic without being the sole representative of your entire race. White privilege is not being aware of your privilege. White privilege is learning about racism and not experiencing it.
For me, being black is being afraid to leave a shop without buying anything. Being black is being scared if police pull me over. Being black is having to be comfortable about feeling uncomfortable. Being black is teachers remembering your name because you’re the only black kid in the class. Being black is not knowing my family history. Being black is being guilty until proven innocent.
Can you imagine the trauma that inhabits the bodies of black people?
White people need to stop picking and choosing what they like and want from black people. You like our music, hair, cultures and style yet you still discriminate against us. What did we ever do to you? We are not just there for you when it best fits you!
I’m not calling you racist or saying that you are at fault. I don’t know you or what you have or haven’t said. But you can help change this anyway. I know it is hard to change everyone’s mindset but if we don’t try, none of this will be significant. How many more black people have to die before people change?
We need to stop ostracising black people. Black lives do matter. ‘Black Lives Matter’ does not mean other lives do not matter, it simply means that for years black people have been oppressed and killed because of the colour of our skin. All lives don’t matter until black lives matter. As the activist Rachel Cargle says: ‘Anti-racism work is not self-improvement work for white people, it doesn’t end when white people feel better… It ends when black people are staying alive and they have their liberation.’ If you are someone who doesn’t want to say anything as it may disrupt your comfort, then grow up. If your comfort revolves around a system like this then you are a part of the problem.
To help, you can educate yourselves, family, friends, neighbours and those around you. It might seem small to you but if everyone starts to do this it will make a huge difference. If you haven’t signed any petitions, I recommend that you do – all you have to is search online for ‘George Floyd’, ‘BlackLivesMatter’ or ‘racism’.
There are things you can watch to learn about black experience. The following are available on DVD and/or on streaming services like Netflix: When They See Us; Racial Wealth Gap; 13th; Who Killed Malcolm X?; 12 Years a Slave; The Kalief Browder Story; Dear White People; Hidden Figures; Roots; The Hate U Give; A United Kingdom; Selma; The Help; Race.
I also recommend you read: White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo; Me and White Supremacy by Layla F Saad; Women, Race and Class by Angela Y Davis; So You Want to Talk About Race by ljeoma Oluo; and A Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela.
Remember that black lives will always matter, even when it isn’t trending on social media. Remember when we go home, we are black. We wake up black, go to sleep black, and are always going to be black.
Also, look out to see if there are any upcoming protests by checking online. In Exeter there have been protests by the cathedral green. There’ll be one near you.
Thank you for reading.
This is me doing my part. What’s yours?
Comments
Thankyou
By jonathan.carmichael@ntlworld.com on 4th July 2020 - 16:08
Thank you from me, too.
I’ve a lot to learn, so listening and reading are high priorities - Ijeoma Ulou is a good start - and I’m glad we’ve been challenged by this and other recent articles in the Friend, too.
I read a memorable piece (BBC website?) about two friends, black and white, who finally had a discussion in adulthood about racism. The white one asked why his friend had never told him (in childhood) about his experiences of racism, and he was told ‘because you were there, you witnessed it, and you didn’t notice’.
I feel sure I’ve ‘not seen’ plenty of things I need to become aware of now.
By helengamsa on 11th July 2020 - 18:03
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