Fade to Black: Happy Birthday Ahmaud Arbery; Your Life Mattered

COVID 19 may very well lead to my death. People don’t seem to comprehend wearing facial coverings in public, so I got the full effect of neighbor’s look I encountered in the lobby. The jaw dropped and eyebrows shot up with a “why are you in this building” look.  There was no sign of recognition. Sigh, another instance of Negrophbia. Typically, I can smile and put white people at ease; the problem with a mask, you can’t tell that I am smiling. Do you know the heartbreaking feeling of someone looking at you in terror; like you mean to do them harm and there is nothing you can do? Lift a hand to offer a wave and oh, you might be pulling a gun, start to speak and you are threatening, walk by swiftly and you appeared to be up to no good. Don’t wear a mask and you become socially irresponsible and can spread the virus and are stereotyped as “well those” people have the high infection rates, look no mask.

Being black is stressful. Last week the rest of the world caught up on the story of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man murdered by two white men.

1. The murderers* said Mr. Arbery looked like a burglar captured by a surveillance camera.
   • Really, my neighbor didn’t recognize me in a mask and yet you see footage from a surveillance camera and think it is a man jogging?
2. The father and son gave chase in a truck and stopped Mr. Arbery to “talk to him.”
   • In 1998, 3 white men in Texas dragged James Byrd Jr to death behind their pick-up truck for 3 miles in which Mr. Byrd’s right arm and head were severed. So, I ask you, in what world, would a black man stop to talk to two armed white men in a truck who have followed you and blocked your passage?
3. There were no arrests because the men had a film of the incident that showed Mr. Arbery fighting which law enforcement said supported the father/son claims.
   • Why was an attorney on hand to film? How can law enforcement do nothing when these two men pursued and killed a jogger? What consideration was given to an unarmed black man who was hunted down in broad daylight?

Police Officer Amber Guyer murdered Jean Botham inside his home when she entered the wrong apartment and said she feared for her life. Police Officer Aaron Dean murdered Atatiana Jefferson inside her home as she peered from a window; he said he feared for his life.  I was questioned by police getting my mail when I owned my home. I had to show my driver’s license.  I’m black and this is black history and black present. I have relative who was beaten to death by white men while the police watched¹, an example my parents used to caution me police inaction. In my lifetime, I’ve added don’t trust white people not to shoot you because they don’t feel safe.

Any non negro can view this as, it’s a shame, I’m sorry that it happened, we are not all like that. The difference is you get to fear for your safety, and I have to be calm and non-threatening. Skip Gates became agitated as police questioned him for allegedly “breaking into this own home. Police Officer James Crowley arrested him for disorderly conduct even though Dr Gates provided ID showing he was in his own home. Police Officers Sean Carroll, Richard Murphy, Edward McMellon and Kenneth Boss shot Amadou Diallo 41 times because they mistook him for a rapist. Oh, but wait my bad, I am citing examples of law enforcement. Let’s circle back to father and son. Just what outcome were the father/son vigilantes planning for Mr. Arbery?  This is what scares black people:

…there was “insufficient probable cause to issue arrest warrants” in the case. Waycross District Attorney George E. Barnhill argued that the McMichaels’ actions were legal under Georgia laws on citizen’s arrests, the open carry of guns and self-defense.

The flattening of the COVID19 curve is like the US segregation of African Americans. Everyone cannot use the water fountains, pools, rest rooms schools, go to stores, restaurants. What many white Americans are now protesting after at the most 7 weeks of restrictions, African Americans have experienced for 400 years. Talk about “we have a right to blah, blah blah.” After just 3 weeks, there were armed protest at state capitals nationwide – let us out, we have right to be free, our economic health is at stake.You know, all that economic well-being was used to justify slavery also. Just saying. It’s all painful, we’re all suffering. A fellow blogger did a post back in mid-April  Q #130: If quarantine protesters are all about THEIR state’s rights, why wave Trump 2020 or Confederate battle flags? It’s worth a read and as well as a view of the video by Beau, please give the first 2 minutes listen to.

Benjamin Franklin said: “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” This week consider, can you call people out in a way that I can’t as an African American? I know there is a fear factor associated with this, but think about being black¹, it is fearful for us all of the time in a way you cannot comprehend.

¹Let’s talk about what it’s like to be a black person in the US