I’m fed up with blatant ignorance. Get over yourselves, be human and do better.
The ignorance and lack of empathy in Jacob Blake’s shooting is truly disheartening. The fact that so many white or conservative folks rather see past the shooting and instead highlight his past. As if his history has any resonance is so pointless to what happened shows what their initial perspective of a black person is. What role does a man’s past play into him being the victim of a shooting in which he is killed — or lived in Blake’s case? You can’t make that make sense.
Consider this, notice how people on the scene point out he was headed to the car when the officers shot him. Everyone goes off assuming he was going for a weapon or something dangerous. How exactly could you prove when they shot him before he could do any more, and with us all knowing he had his kids in the car? Why not consider he was going to check on his kids because he was just tased? With his back turned, he could not know a gun was pointed at him.
Consider if this was a white man, what would everyone’s initial reaction be? Everything plays out the same, just with a white man. I feel, all of the sudden, there would be much worry about why they shot the man when he was going to check on his kids because he was afraid of what was going to happen to him.
Now, apply that to Jacob Blake. Why can’t it work the same way for him? Because he’s a Black man? After being tased you are more than likely running on adrenaline and dazed, so it is very probable Jacob was oblivious to what was happening right behind him.
The reality that so many have completely disregarded this completely valid aspect to the shooting proves how toxic of a role white supremacy and systemic racism has played on non-racist white folks and especially the racists.
Be compassionate and empathetic with this Black man. He was just as scared as any of us would be after being tased by an officer, especially when you were there only to do the right thing.
It is deeply unsettling that so many continue to choose or follow ignorant values and views or have such an unwillingness to listen and understand none of this is about them. When talking about the scope of this systemic problem and its most recent examples. You just need to be human.
If you see Mr. Blake’s situation differently from how you would if it was a white man, you are actively a part of a grand problem. You must work with yourself and understand how problematic and an undertone of racist it is to care more about his past than his murder or possible murder. Yet, if it was another skin color, you would see it differently. To those people, you’re led off of assumptions and you do not even care about the fact his children were present.
I’m fed up with blatant ignorance. Get over yourselves, be human and do better.
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