Blanket America

Look this blog is a direct result of the mass shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. The mass shooting has left a reportedly 9 people dead. This shooting was carried out by a young white male, at a historically black church, that has been around since the days of slavery...now that I've gotten that narrative out of the way let me begin...

I love America, I really do. Even after a feeling of nostalgia overcame me at a Nigerian wedding. Had it not been for my ancestors being brought to this country, I may not have had the chance to write, let alone from my iPhone. 

It's hard not to blanket all of America with what has happened in Charleston, and I won't, because lord knows there are some folks in our county who don't see my blackness as a threat, but see me as a human being, one full of life and goodness. One that can add to our country's unique fabric, not one that' is treated like a virus or a worldwide pestilence that must be eradicated. But who has the answers? Why are my people continually gunned down by the police, unarmed? Why can't our young black children enjoy a summers day a local pool without being harassed, why can't my people worship their God without being shot down like dogs? You say post-racial, but this keeps happening to my people. White men are not gunned down or mass incarcerated. You've never heard of little Sarah being slammed to ground by the police clad in a bikini, just trying to have fun. These stories never originate in white America, or any other ethnic community in our country. So who's gonna answer, who's gonna be brave enough to sweep yet another black tragedy under the proverbial post-racial rug, who's gonna say black folks are just whining and complaining, who's gonna point out the fact that we have a black president? How many more examples have to play out at the expense and loss of black life before America wakes up and pulls back this damn blanket, this blanket that covers up all the nasty and vile things that happens to black Americans? Who?!

Unfortunately, I don't believe it will ever happen. Don't mean to be a cynic, but time and time again history has shown me what to expect. You want to learn about future behavior, study past behavior. Nothing about this great country's past, indicates that this will ever end. I suppose if one can walk into a church and murder black bodies, this example alone offers little to no hope at all.