In 1918, U.S. Army Veteran Charles Lewis’ home was raided by police. Lewis was then falsely accused of robbery, and though he was able to flee temporarily, he was later captured, jailed, and lynched. The purpose of a lynching is to bolster white supremacy while reminding Black folks that being Black is a punishable offence – punishable by death. I imagine Lewis’ body suspended in the air and swaying gently in the wind as white onlookers celebrated his demise, and Black spectators beheld the horrific scene before them and trembled in fear - likely asking themselves, “Am I next?”
This is the same question I asked myself after the lynching of Senior Airman Roger Fortson earlier this month by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Department. Fortson was everything we are told to be – a respectable, friendly, and hardworking man who served his country and stayed out of trouble. He was in his home when a trigger-happy police officer shot him six times on sight because his Blackness constituted a threat. Fortson lay on the floor, telling the officer he couldn’t breathe as the officer yelled orders at him. Lying in pain, in the beautiful Black skin God crowned him with, Forston slipped away from this earth into eternity. His Blackness had caught up with him, it had killed him. And I can’t help but think, am I next?
In America, it is a common occurrence for Black folks to be punished, simply for existing. The punishment for being Black in America is being told that your success is a product of affirmative action. The punishment for being Black in America is to be redlined into deteriorating neighborhoods with underfunded schools. The punishment for being Black in America is being jailed at a disgracefully disproportionate rate than our white counterparts. The punishment for being Black in America is high Black maternal and infant mortality rates. The punishment for being Black in America is consistently high levels of unemployment. The punishment for being Black in America is having under appraised properties. The punishment for being Black in America is being told to alter our appearance. The punishment for being Black in America means living fewer years than other ethnic groups. The punishment for being Black in America is suffocation, for how are we to breathe under the weight of this racism?
Racism does not care if you are the President of the United States, active-duty military, a world class athlete, or a celebrity – you will always be judged and stereotyped by your Blackness. No amount of code switching, shucking and jiving, Jack and Jill Clubs, or money will change that. Your Blackness will catch up with you. The only way we will breathe freely in this country is by destroying racist institutions, thoughts, and actions. So, before this country ultimately kills us, let us commit to fighting to set it free, so that the next generation of Black youth can live a truly liberated existence.
This is the same question I asked myself after the lynching of Senior Airman Roger Fortson earlier this month by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Department. Fortson was everything we are told to be – a respectable, friendly, and hardworking man who served his country and stayed out of trouble. He was in his home when a trigger-happy police officer shot him six times on sight because his Blackness constituted a threat. Fortson lay on the floor, telling the officer he couldn’t breathe as the officer yelled orders at him. Lying in pain, in the beautiful Black skin God crowned him with, Forston slipped away from this earth into eternity. His Blackness had caught up with him, it had killed him. And I can’t help but think, am I next?
In America, it is a common occurrence for Black folks to be punished, simply for existing. The punishment for being Black in America is being told that your success is a product of affirmative action. The punishment for being Black in America is to be redlined into deteriorating neighborhoods with underfunded schools. The punishment for being Black in America is being jailed at a disgracefully disproportionate rate than our white counterparts. The punishment for being Black in America is high Black maternal and infant mortality rates. The punishment for being Black in America is consistently high levels of unemployment. The punishment for being Black in America is having under appraised properties. The punishment for being Black in America is being told to alter our appearance. The punishment for being Black in America means living fewer years than other ethnic groups. The punishment for being Black in America is suffocation, for how are we to breathe under the weight of this racism?
Racism does not care if you are the President of the United States, active-duty military, a world class athlete, or a celebrity – you will always be judged and stereotyped by your Blackness. No amount of code switching, shucking and jiving, Jack and Jill Clubs, or money will change that. Your Blackness will catch up with you. The only way we will breathe freely in this country is by destroying racist institutions, thoughts, and actions. So, before this country ultimately kills us, let us commit to fighting to set it free, so that the next generation of Black youth can live a truly liberated existence.
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