Contributed by
AiLun Ku
Event Details
August 5, 2019
Here we are – a nation reeling yet again from acts of domestic terrorism taking place this past week in Gilroy, California ; El Paso, Texas ; and Dayton, Ohio .
All of these were heinous crimes. Military-grade weapons easily obtained by White male perpetrators that harbor hate and disdain for those of us that don’t look or think like them – those of us recasting the American Dream to better serve the needs of our beautifully diverse nation.
Make no mistake, this is what domestic terrorism looks like. In El Paso, the crime was explicitly motivated by nationalistic ideals and racism, targeting the Mexican and Mexican American communities.
We recognize that this isn’t a new form of terror in our country. We live in a nation that continues to fail to come to terms with its shameful history of genocide of the indigenous people on their land, and its repugnant acts of institutionalized slavery, segregation, Jim Crow, mass incarceration, police brutality, and other forms of structural racism. We speak truth in acknowledging that the hate and violence a part of this nation’s history continues to be nurtured by a form of White supremacy born out of our country’s unique past.
As you watch the news, pay close attention to how the media is covering these crimes and how some politicians are explaining them away. The hypocrisy is in plain sight. When unarmed and nonviolent black and brown people are confronted, more often than not, their lives are in grave danger at the hands of police and the criminal justice system because their guilt and criminality were decided the moment the color of their skin became visible.
We must remain committed to speaking truth to power and resisting these false narratives plagued by racial hate. There is hope when we do.
We can dismantle the myth of White supremacy and racial fear together. We can do it through truth-telling and choosing to live openly and proudly with love, joy, and healing – exactly as Audre Lorde compels us all to do when she said, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
Let us remember the beautiful lives that were lost, and honor the black and brown lives that were targeted – because every single one of them mattered.
Onward, together.