We are Black Men - A Reflection by Malik Jefferson

Photography by Kaiya Jefferson

I keep seeing these "I am a Black man" posts and being tagged in them but I didn’t wanna just copy and paste the message. To a police officer or stranger, I am simply a Black man, nothing more nothing less. Even though my father is Black and my mother is white, I’m still in the same class as all my fellow African Americans. I think it’s very important that as a person of color regardless of your hue or percentage we remember are all still Black. We are all forced into this societal class from birth because of the institutional racism that’s so deeply rooted in our country. The frustration that we feel now is justified completely and is the result of years of oppression but, it’s important to remember what we’re fighting for. Some people may not agree with the riots and looting, but those few don't discredit the ENTIRE movement. Just like how many claim "a few BAD cops don't make all cops bad". It’s a double standard to be against BLM but not hate all cops, we need to find a middle ground. It’s very easy to adopt the narrative of "them or us" which is not what we want to do. Yes, there are a lot of racist white people, yes being white gives them more opportunity than us but not all white people are terrible. We all have friends of different races and I think it’s a good reminder that its "Us vs Racism" we don't hate white people. BLM does not hate you if your not a person of color. We just want your cooperation to fight for what’s right. And as people of color, we need to stay united. Not everyone is able to go out and protest but it doesn’t mean they aren't doing there part. While some of us make our presence physical and stand up to the police, some of us are signing petitions and spreading awareness on social media. As Black people, we need to stay united and remember we are all doing our part. To all my friends who are unable to go protest, I don’t hate you or hold that against you just so long as you’re doing your best to support from home.