The searing pain behind the Baltimore riots

The only Americans who truly understand the forces behind the Baltimore/Freddie Gray riots are Black people. That’s not to say that other races cannot sympathize; there are plenty of compassionate human beings of all shades who have marched, petitioned, and otherwise raised awareness about the all-too-frequent occurrences of police brutality to people of African descent. A Police brutality that’s just one aspect of the systemic, national attacks that have plagued Black communities from slavery to the Tulsa Riots to the present day. Black people get this, because we’ve lived this.

Yet, there are people who believe that nothing justifies an outburst from a race that’s been literally and figuratively pummeled since the 17th century. This isn’t a boo-hoo story; this is a fact. Any dismissal of the past with “well, that happened hundreds of years ago!” is incredibly short-sighted at best, and willfully hate-filled at worst.

If you apply enough stressors to an individual, then there’s a possibility that person could break. It could result in a relatively harmless action like punching a wall in a fit of anger, or something as complex as suffering a mental meltdown. Unfortunately, entire Black communities are suffering from multi-headed, multi-generational stressors. Stressors like:

• College-educated Black men without a criminal record have a harder time finding a job than a White ex-con.
• Blacks college graduates have less wealth than White high school dropouts.
• Rockefeller Drug Laws.
• And, of course, police brutality.

Racism, stereotyping, the prison industrial complex, and resource roadblocks are a searing poison that claims many Black victims. Baltimore’s frustration and rage are real.

I feel it, too. I spent roughly half my life in the projects, so I empathize. I was dirt poor. I had my ass whopped by the police. I still deal with microaggressions on a regular basis. The playing field is uneven. There are potholes everywhere.

Riots don’t emerge out of the blue; riots emerge when many, many people feel the same pressure. So, America, look beyond the broken windows. There’s something there. Something ugly. And ditch the hypocritical audacity in how rioting is viewed.

That’s not to say that there aren’t any knuckleheads taking advantage of Baltimore’s tense situation. Some men just want to watch the world burn, after all, but they aren’t representative of the larger group who simply want a fair shot at life. There are Black people in Baltimore keeping the peace. There are Black people in Baltimore cleaning up the debris in the riots’ wake. We’re not animals.

“Black Lives Matter” is a slogan, a hashtag, and more importantly, a fact. We are human beings.

Treat us as such.

Image courtesy of Brendan Smialowski | AFP photo.