Growing up, I was always told: “Run from the police!”
I’m not black. I didn’t grow up in the US. However, the message is the same anywhere in the world. The police does not protect you. The police protects the system.
I’m not here to say who’s right or who’s wrong. I’m not here to blame anyone. I’m just saying: If you’ve never noticed the system, you are most likely in it. Anyone outside of the system would know how the system is reinforced.
If you’ve never been frightened at the sight of the police, you are in the system.
Taiwan
To me, the system was the Chinese Nationalists who ruled over Taiwan, through ruthless suppression known as the White Terror [1].
What’s the best way to keep a people enslaved and obedient? Terror.
What’s the best way to have the said people work for a regime that funnels all profits to the ruling class, and leaves only pennies for the laborers? More terror.
What’s the best way to have the said people break their backs to put on grand military parades, so that the supreme leader can satisfy his ego? Oh, most definitely terror.
Hong Kong
I understand emotions are running high right now. Mass protests against racism send a powerful message. Just remember, protests alone do not promote change.
Hong Kongers have been protesting on the streets for freedom for FOURTEEN MONTHS since March 2019. They’ve been arrested. They’ve been pepper sprayed. They’ve been shot with live ammunition by the police.
Seven days ago, China annexed Hong Kong.
In the middle of a global pandemic, Hong Kongers are now fleeing the only home they’ve ever known [2]. As for those who can’t leave, they’re sending their children abroad in the hopes that their kids can escape China and have a better life.
Vote
Unlike China, the United States is still a democracy. You can still change the future of this country.
Vote this November.
Vote out the white supremacists and their terrors.
Vote out the dictators who deploy the military against its own people.
Vote before you lose your chance.
VOTE!!!
Beyond Police Reform
The system is more than just the enforcers.
(a) Do you agree that the SAT fairly assesses a student’s innate ability?
Since 1926, the SAT has been and is still intentionally designed so that African Americans would score low [3] and white middle-class Americans high [4].
(b) Do you go to the bank, to obtain a mortgage for your first home?
(c) Do you go to college and declare a major, to study the said subject?
(d) Do you testify in courts, by taking an oath and stating the facts?
If you answer yes to the above, the financial system, the higher education system, and the criminal justice system are designed for you. Congratulations, you are in!!!
Again, I’m not saying who’s right or who’s wrong. I’m just saying: If you don’t have alternative answers to the above questions, perhaps it’s time to find out who does and what the alternative answers are.
Perhaps, find one more question where your answer differs from those who are not in the system. The dimensions may be more complex than racism. You might be in one system but outside of another.
(e) ?????
What do you think of the answers? How will you do about them? A 400-year-old problem will not resolve itself overnight, so start now.
Please also let me know what I don’t know. We are all in this together. We will stand together.
[1] White Terror
[2] Boris Johnson Pledges to Admit 3 Million From Hong Kong to U.K.
[3] The Racist Beginnings of Standardized Testing
[4] The History of the SAT Is Mired in Racism and Elitism
[Photo] Honoring the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Hong Kong, June 4, 2019. After annexing Hong Kong, China has banned the annual vigil this year. Photo by Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times.