Along with COVID lockdowns, there was a civil unrest in Minnesota, in the month of May & June. The trigger is a horrifying incident and its video is painful to watch. All the following debates, arguments, news & anecdotes have been a learning experience. Along with it, there is a very visible behavioral change. I want to document them here.
Let me address my own hypocrisy first. And it is pretty much inline with any Indian (even the woke ones). I had maybe 1 friend and few acquaintances, few colleagues I worked with and more interaction in retail store employees. Indian party gathering conversations if about racial groups, were around how hostile & loud a group behaves in public, how the jeans of many hangs at the hips and how many middle schoolers language is filled with cuss words. At the same time, many Indian youngsters grown up in US have posted videos comparing how racism faced by Indians & Asians is million times different from those faced by African-American folks. With Indians arriving via white-collar professions, whatever hostility is, it's as outsiders coming in. Against Blacks, its more of power struggle. Any amount of soul-searching will show the Dalit-treatment in parallel.
However this moment in history was not about taking away the magnitude of Black suffering by comparisons, but about standing up for them.
The downtown protests in the first week drew the much needed attention to a simmering problem. Once the riots & looting happened, it was disbelief that same can happen in our own neighborhood. There were posts calling out how white supremist guys had inflirtrated and incited rioting & looting. Also posts from mothers saying that their rich neighborhood kids were going to downtown for the sole purpose of looting. Minnesota owners showed their niceness and came out in support of the protesters; acknowledging the pain and ignoring their own property damages. Many protesters returned back for cleanup. Governor countered the looting by calling in National Guards and much appreciated. Soon only protesters remained and looters went away.
Protests became more organized and spread out. I am a foreigner. Hence I did not participate or show support for any specific groups. But I did go to see the protest as a viewer. This was a protest march in my suburb on 11-June-2020. All primarily young participants.
The politics of BLM as an Organization and people associated with it, is beyond my comprehension. But the conversations on internet sparked by the BLM phrase are very noteworthy. I am still curious about the change in course of recent history and still can't join the dots - from the Math computers in NASA and science doctors inventing ground breaking procedures, to now college admissions being abandoned.
When it came up a few years back, the "Black Lives Matters" phrase was always countered with "Blue Lives Matters" and "Doesn't White Lives Matters ?" In promotions addressing the counter-approach, everyone came up with very illuminating insights. Mostly on the lines of, "If your finger has a paper-cut, and you apply band-aid and rest of the body asks What about me?" The ask is - this group is facing a problem, acknowledge it, help solve it, don't take the focus away from it.
But also came out, stories of unjust treatment of Black folks while driving. Young school students being written up for trivial things, which might be excused for other kids. The stories and movies about unjust jail imprisonments are just unwatchable; inspite or because of being from true stories.
The comments elaborating use of Thirteenth amendment to fill prisons for cheap labor and thus new form of slavery, now this was mind-blowing information. Ava DuVernay's film brought this topic to the forefront.
In medical field, questions are being raised. Skin & often other organ symptoms could be different in blacker & browner skin complexions. Biracial people, might have it even more complicated. Things grow complex when blood, marrow or other donations are involved. But is this documented enough ? Is it part of training for regular doctors out there ? I don't know; but I hope it is.
The other thing I noticed was in the Running world. Runners in general are the bestest of the people. Those I have run with long or encountered for the first time in a race - are the most supportive anyone can be.
How come we see few non-elite American Black runners in most of the races ? Don't Nigerian & Ethopian slim-trim elite runners rule the Running races world ? All these years I blamed it on the demographic percentage. Also not many people in general, will agree to throw away good money on race fees & other expenses. Running may seem to be the cheapest of all sports, with no equipment or class fees needed. But really, things add up if you take racing seriously even for a non-elite amateur .
But this summer there was a noticeable difference in the outdoor space.
Running Community virtually came together to remember Ahmaud Arbery with the hashtag #IRUNWITHMAUD. It did make a difference. Now in my weeknight runs, I saw fathers & daughters, mothers & sons, girls-friends, young boys, all biking, walking, running. All shapes, not just the lean athletic types. Which is an indication of overcoming-body-shape-shyness too. One time I ran behind two walking ladies, and I didn't pass them for sometime coz one had the most beautiful weaved hair & bun. It was art. I passed them, and then overcoming shyness, turned back and complimented her hair; they smiled back. I hope this movement carries through the winter and snow sports also welcome all.
Corporate America did chip in and acknowledged. Some gave holidays or half-day off to employees for Juneteenth this year to be celebrated. Focus was more on education for all, rather than as a fun holiday. Amazon Prime and other OTTs showcased Black focused movies in a separate marquee on the top. This is not just economical sense, but an education altogether. Films are after all not just art or aesthetics - they are social influencers. Blackout Reading List movement wide spread to buy Black authors and make them best-sellers. Every media put out lists of books - and what magnificent lists every one of them.
Questions have also been raised about language. Phrases like blackout/black box need a rethink. I am pleasantly surprised to that the change is actually being implemented. (If French fries can be switched to Fries, this can happen). I will share one of the office calls event. Now none of us have ever met in real-life, but know our racial makeup by our names & accent. The business person who is black, developer who is white and me Indian. Business person brought up about a change going on, in language of certain screen of the app. White person laughed "what language change ?"
When your day is spend tackling fire and keeping systems going, language or word change does sounds trivial in IT. Here the Business person spoke about removing/replacing words like Blacklist. She did not provide any context; because it was known to all. I have to add that all of these folks are well-intentioned good people and totally understood each other. While the description of it all doesn't not convey it; this is just an instance of an uncomfortable topic being addressed without any conflict.
The protests may have toned down. But it might influence a lot of things, maybe even the 2020 election results. Indeed a lot happened these few months.
