There are hundreds of memes I have saved to my phone which can near-perfectly describe my thoughts and feelings on this matter. The USA is not perfect but with God as my witness, I am grateful to be a part of a nation that fights for change, injustice, and a generation of people that are working towards the liberation of a people that have felt suppressed in their own darn skin for far too long. Even if you have not personally experienced racial disparity, someone actually has and that is who you fight for. Just because you don’t see something doesn’t mean its non-existence. Don’t fall into a place of silence and ignorance.
Racism is a disease, it is taught, passed down generationally, and can be unlearned (including the unconscious bias). Some things you can do to help the movement is to support Black-Owned businesses. Educate those attention-seeking counterproductive ‘All Lives Matter’ folks that grew up in predominately white neighborhoods and have little to no empathy for the situation. Listen to people of color, go to school with people of color, go to events or locations that are predominately POC so that you can work towards understanding why you have an irrational fear. Have those tough conversations.
I am also grateful to be able to openly engage in these kinds of topics with my non-POC fiancé and future Step-Dad of an AA child who is 100% in support of what is going on. I have friends and work supervisors who are also non-POC but just as angry, sad, upset and recognize the challenges we have faced for so long. They are allies working towards reform through protests and meetings. The Black Lives Matter Movement is not a Fad and it will not go away until a more permanent solution is provided. Not until being deemed as racist is not only SHAMEFUL, frowned upon, and distasteful but a crime, misdemeanor, or felony throughout the whole entire American system.
So much is changing right now from the banning of the ANTI-American Confederate flag to the removal of the slave trade “thugs” and warlord monuments around the globe. Hopefully, the KKK will also be rightfully deemed as a Terrorist organization which I feel it truly is. History is being MADE whether you want it to or not. I am proud to be apart of this long-overdue change and truly appreciate the support of everyone on the right side of history for people who look like me and/or want to see reform implemented.