Black History Month- The Movement to End Racism
This will be one of two articles written in honor of black history month. This month is a time to think about how we as a society can do better and end bias and discrimination, which our practice strongly supports.
One great thing to come out of the last few years has been the Black Lives Matter movement, which has helped shine light on devastating impact of racism. The Black Lives Matter movement gained traction in 2013 in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old. Zimmerman claimed he had acted in self-defense when he shot and killed Martin- who had done nothing wrong or to provoke. How the case was handled, from the investigation to the court proceedings, was noticeably racially skewed. One reason the Black Lives Matter organization was formed was to shed light on the racial tension between law enforcement and minority groups. Several tragedies have occurred since its start that make that light brighter, such as the slayings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many more.
In past generations, the status of authority figures was strong. People were to respect, obey, and never question people in authority: parents, teachers, doctors, management, and law enforcement. However, sometimes these groups can abuse their power. Individuals can seek powerful positions in order to further their biases and hatred, and can be protected by these positions.
Do I feel an equality with law enforcement? No, they have more power than I do. They are expected to uphold the law and are given the authority to use their own opinions and judgement in each situation. I believe, in most of their hearts, they mean well, and that they want to keep people safe. They are allowed to choose to warn or to consequence in each situation. If they believe a rule has been broken, but I do not agree, my opinion matters less than theirs. This allows many hateful people to go unpunished for crimes they commit. Black Lives Matter exists to help change our flawed system and end that hypocrisy. Enough public instances have occurred to prove there is a problem. I see it. I believe it. I wish it didn’t happen.
Black Lives Matter also exists to promote education and change on this topic. Why should certain people have more leeway when it comes to crimes? If a civilian kills someone even accidentally, they are almost always imprisoned for it without question. Yet when someone on duty kills someone, there is much more questioning and less punishment. The victim’s past history becomes questioned, even when entirely irrelevant to the situation, and much more so when the person is of color.
Why is this important? Because people of color have a right to feel safe wherever they go and be treated equally, and they are not. This causes BIPOC to have significantly higher levels of anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression, as they cannot be assured they are safe even when walking down the street. Poor mental health can lead to physical health conditions which cause Black Americans specifically to become ill and die from those illnesses more often than whites. This is a national health disparity and pandemic caused entirely from systemic and unpunished racism.
Racial trauma is experienced by people of color who experience stress and emotional injury from their encounters with racial discrimination and hate crimes. This can be experienced directly and then perpetuated when seeing news stories of similar events, seeing hate speech online, or hearing about the stories of friends or family. By allowing racism and hate to continue, we are allowing generations of people to suffer and experience severe mental health consequences that nobody should have to go through.
We all have a role in healing our country and doing better. We can support organizations, such as Black Lives Matter, to fight racism and discrimination on all levels while choosing to be more knowledgeable ourselves. We should all follow the golden rule, fight our internalized prejudices, and make the world an equal place.
Kyndal Sims
Birch Psychology