Don't Talk To Me About Looting: An Open Letter
Dear white America:
I awoke in a rage. I was up late last night, watching footage of protests from around the country over the brutal police lynching of George Floyd. This morning, when I sneaked outside to let my dog out, I overheard a complaint from a white passerby: “I can’t believe my Starbucks is gone!”
That sent me over the edge.
I have never been more angry in my life at the treatment of Black people in this country, and some of y’all are complaining that your Starbucks was damaged by our anger. The world watched as an innocent man was suffocated for nine minutes. We watched as the lynching officer pinned his knee against George Floyd’s neck for 2 minutes and 53 seconds after Mr. Floyd was “non-responsive,” no pulse, no movement.
We watched as he cried out, begging to live. “I’m about to die, officer!” were among his last word — before he cried out for his deceased mother and passed away himself.
But y’all’s Starbucks is gone. Your Target was damaged. Your insured businesses had windows broken and property stolen. Property. An interesting term, considering the way Black people were once and seemingly continue to be treated and considered in this country.
Today isn’t the day for you to talk to me about looting. As many activists have made clear, America is the original looter. White people are the original looters in this country. The original colonizers looted the indigenous people of this land damn-near completely to death. The original colonizers stole us from our homes, brought us to this place, and continued to loot and terrorize us for the last 400 years.
Violence has been the American way since its inception. Looting and pillaging is as American as apple pie. You think the so-called Boston Tea Party was a party? It was a riot.
No meaningful civil rights advancement has taken place in this country without riots. I personally choose to never carry out or even promote violence. But police violence, government violence, is the only thing Black people have ever known in America.
If the state of affairs concerns you, if you’re scared, if you’re distraught, don’t let your first response reflect concern about property. Don’t let your concern about damaged police cars overshadow how police have burned entire Black neighborhoods to the ground during your lifetime.
Collect. Your. People. Collect your white friends and do something about this. Anything. Join us in the streets. Use your bodies to protect Black Lives. Stand between us and the police who seek to abuse and murder us. Donate your money. Give your time. Sign up with organizations like Showing Up For Racial Justice, which likely has an affiliate in your area.
Do whatever you need to do and hopefully everything you can do—then do more—to make sure the United States starts treating Black people like full citizens. Do whatever you need to do to convince America to fulfill its alleged promise of freedom and equal treatment under the law.
But do not talk to me about looting.
- Johnathan
