Of Course All Lives Matter But The Black Community’s House Is Burning Down Hence #BLACKLIVESMATTER
Race Still Matters
I wasn’t going to post an article on this subject since it seems like it has flooded the internet. And I didn’t want to be someone copying what has already been put out there on #BlackLivesMatter. However, after much thought as an African-American woman raising a biracial child, I had to give voice to this subject. Although our 6-year-old daughter is half Indian in the U.S., she will more than likely be seen as an African-American woman. An African-American woman in the same way and sense that our President, Barack Obama, is seen as an African-American man.
And if we, by chance, have a son, he will also be seen/counted as an African-American man. My Indian husband and I will have to be diligent in teaching our child and any future children that we are blessed to have that while society is evolving, race does still matter. Hence the reason for why we created this blog, Growing Up Gupta.
Reality Of Racism
As an African-American woman, I experienced racism at an early age when I was first called the N-word during recess at elementary school. My Indian husband was taunted for “smelling Indian” in elementary school. And 3.5 years ago, when we were moving from St. Louis, MO, the police were called to our condo because someone thought that my Indian husband was robbing the condo we rented in broad daylight. Furthermore, when we were in Ireland five years ago, as a family, we were denied access to have lunch at a very upscale hotel for no reason. And we were more than dressed the part to dine at the hotel restaurant.
The Human Race
At this time, the repercussions for being a black man in America are reprehensible. To think that I would have to tell my biracial son that he may not only be racially profiled and killed for the color of his skin but also have to go through extra security measures because of his surname being an Indian one brings me to my knees. Many of us know but choose to ignore that race is a made-up social construct and ideology. We are one race, the human race, and right now, an arm of our human race is bleeding. Right now, we should all be equally weeping and doing something to stop that arm from bleeding. My husband and I will make sure that our biracial child/children understand that when one community in our human family is ailing, we are all ailing.
Will you?
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Thank you for sharing this. As a white person from a middle class background, I haven’t felt like I have anything to contribute to the dialogue about race in the past week except a listening ear and an open heart. I believe that to be an ally I need to hear about the experiences of racism so many people have experienced and practice humility.
Beautifully written article. I’m so sorry for all your family has experienced and the need to teach your children that they will be seen differently purely due to their name/skin color.
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