I can only say that it feels increasingly grim in “the greatest nation on the earth”. New York on lockdown was already a strange sensation, but mainly quiet. Most of us neatly adhered to the quarantine and social distance rules with masks and all.
Kenneth, who lives a block away, had already ordered his high-end mask in December, because he too had seen Corona coming. As a responsible son who takes good care of his elderly, he doesn't take any chances. He keeps his distance. After months I saw him sitting on the stairs of their classic brownstone. Fortunately, both parents are still healthy. He wouldn't be protesting on June 1st on Fulton and Nostrand literally around the corner from us.
With Kenneth in 2017 when there was no corona yet.
Racism
Even after the murder of Ahmaud Aubrey , everything still felt relatively calm, the man simply shot dead while jogging by two racists, who supposedly wanted to maintain order. Another case of deadly racism, with which the murderers could have easily gotten away with, if the video of the murder had not been leaked.
These are the most dangerous figures when it comes to racism. They are white supremacists who are convinced that they, as a white person, have the authority at all times to interrogate and humiliate a black person, for whatever reason.
This type of racist believes that a black person is not worthy of human rights. This manifests itself in thoroughly ridiculous situations such as BBQ Becky , Hallway Harry and even coffee shop racism, which should never happen to any white person anywhere. In the mildest case, calling the police thankfully yields nothing other than Twitter rage, hilarious nicknames and social media mimes. In the first case, however, calling the police ends in yet another racist tragedy.
The Case of Amy
Then there was Amy Cooper. Amy, a Democratic-voting liberal , who walked her dog in Central Park but didn't feel the need to follow the rules. In 'the Ramble', the area specifically designated for bird watchers, a dog is supposed to be on a leash. It's simple, dogs running loose scare birds away, so keep your dog on a leash.
But of course, privileged people like Amy don’t have to play by the rules. So when a Christian Cooper, a birdwatcher who happens to be a black man, confronted her about it, she not only threatened to call the police, she did so and hysterically feigned being threatened. With Emmett Till , a 14-year-old boy who was murdered for a similar reason, still fresh in our minds, we all know how horribly this could have ended.
The remarkable thing is that I can't immediately tell whether Amy is a racist or not. When you watch the video you see a sickeningly spoiled brat who will do anything, absolutely anything to get her way at that moment. A child who threatens with "I'm going to tell daddy that...". She threatens with it because she knows what she can do to you with this and with that she wants to get her way.
The whole way she keeps her dog in check, he almost chokes during the whole constellation, shows that she doesn't care about anything at that moment, except getting her way. That beats everything while we all know how much she loves her dog. The dog even had his own instagram account.
They are the type of women who will use any tool at their disposal to get their way, without any regard for the consequences. This behavior is absolutely against my entire body, but it is not necessarily the behavior of a racist.
Racism as a weapon, show your true colours
What Amy does make clear is how easily racism is used as a weapon in this society. People who call themselves liberal and say 'I don't see color', will have to show their colors after this video. After watching the images, it can no longer be denied that there is color and that color is in any case more than a tool, a weapon to threaten a black person and even endanger their lives. Color is there, it has always been there and it will never go away. And as long as this type of liberals, white or otherwise, do not recognize color nor use their privilege to speak out against racism, there will always be racism.
The Murder of George Floyd
We hadn't even finished running for Ahmaud Aubrey and had barely finished watching Amy Cooper when the horrific images of the murder of George Floyd spread across social media.
As a black woman, I refuse to look at that photo and those images. My stomach turns just thinking about it. It’s too traumatic and mentally painful. I can’t. I won’t. I never will.
I hate violence. Even when I see images of destruction during protests, I wonder what the point is, but it would be dishonest of me to say that I don’t understand it. The pain, the helplessness, the sadness that goes back to not just injustice, but the murder of black people, as if we were animals, runs very, very deep. Travor Noah from the Daily Show explains it well.
https://www.facebook.com/Masoesa/posts/10158090544952713
The murder of Gorge Floyd clearly shows what we have been talking about for centuries. Where all murders were always somehow trivialized, or an excuse was made up by a cop who feared for his life, even if it was nothing, there is no arguing with this case at all.
A police officer kneeling on the neck of a man who is lying on the ground, hands cuffed behind his back, dying, while three others watch. It is an image that everyone, every human being, is horrified by. It seems like the perfect metaphor for what has been going on for centuries. Racism resulting in murder. In broad daylight. You stand there and watch.
Well, not now, not anymore and that is what you see in the streets of over 40 cities in America. The protest is unstoppable. With the Corona virus still prevalent, it seems like the perfect storm.
The perfect storm
With over 100,000 deaths, America is at the top of the list of victims of this virus, but there is still no and never was a policy from the White House to contain this virus. Governors and mayors often have their own agenda. It is every man for himself, god take care of us all.
The images speak for themselves. Protestants with masks on, police officers without masks. Where in one state the police kneel with the protesters, tear gas is used against peaceful protesters in other cities.
https://www.facebook.com/Masoesa/posts/10158089598492713
The protests are the biggest, the most massive ever. Bigger than those of the 1960s. The cities hardly know what to do. Even with state troops, the curfew imposed by the ruling class is being flouted. On top of that, and it was almost inevitable, a president is adding fuel to the fire. It can't get any grimmer.
Here in NYC we also have a curfew since yesterday that has now even been moved from 11 pm to 8 pm. Although it is still quiet here in Bedstuy, Brooklyn, I am starting to worry.
With the protest march around the corner that was really peaceful, it still felt like the 'No bread, no school' time with Bouterse in Suriname. Unrestful.
Many people have been fired, have no work, no prospect of work or of the end of the Corona lockdown. The curfew clearly does not work and then the military troops that Trump wants to deploy. Will that bring a solution?
It is grim. Journalists are already talking about situations they only know from overseas, from countries with a dictator, but can they prevent worse? Time will tell.