Never Seen, Never Will

When trying to decide what to do for this blog post, I struggled with finding exactly what to do. However, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to write about something that I really hope to see, but that is probably unlikely that I will see in my lifetime. I decided to go with a version of America in which every race is treated equally. While I believe that with all the actions being taken currently, we will hopefully see improvements in the treatment of minoritized individuals, it will probably always be something we can improve on and something that will take a lot of work from everyone.

To help illustrate some of the things I think equality for races would look like, I found some music that I think illustrates the issue and what a fair world would look like in relation to the racial inequality we see today.

These are just a few examples:

Don’t Shoot by Joyner Lucas

All they do is cross us

Living in the projects, and we all thugs

Now they searchin' through my pockets

Wanna treat me like a hostage

Tryna get inside my conscious like a broad does

If they catch me lookin' wrong, I'm a rebel though

If I got my hoodie on, I'm a criminal

If I got my hands up, that means I probably got a weapon

If they kill me, then I guess that means that it was an exception

More of the lyrics: https://genius.com/Joyner-lucas-dont-shoot-lyrics

You can listen to the full song on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSsyuORZceM

Black Lives Matter by Dax

Nobody's born racist, man, it's something you learn

Deep rooted in your brain from the day of your birth

I think it's time that we repair all of these bridges we've burned

And let love out of our hearts onto cheeks we've turned

Spread love, show love, let's get rid of this curse

Don't wait for anyone to act, man, you go first

400 years wasted, let's get rid of this hurt

'Cause that's the only way we'll ever see peace on Earth

The rest of the lyrics: https://genius.com/Dax-black-lives-matter-lyrics

Music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2o15RCtSS0

America by logic (feat. Chuck D, No I.D, Big Lenbo, and Black Thought)

To teach the people that they have the power to fight

And not with semi automatic bullets in the night

So everybody, everywhere, listen to this fact

Nobody treated equally, especially the black

If you don’t get it the first time, bring it back

Now, everybody gotta fight for equal rights

'Cause the richest people in the whole world equal whites

To make it happen though we gon' need patience

And not violence, giving hospitals more patients now

The rest of the lyrics: https://genius.com/Logic-america-lyrics

Lyric video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3Pe0oUqFkw

These songs are just a few examples of the injustices that people of color face in America. I used these songs and some others to help me think about what it would look like to live in a country where everyone is treated equally no matter what the color of their skin is. I think Joyner Lucas’ “Don’t Shoot” illustrates the need for policing to be totally reformed (if not eliminated) in order to make America a safe place for people of color to live. If police are completely gotten rid of, we can start building back communities that have been over-policed and under-resourced. Additionally, if we need to have some sort of police force, it needs to be one that cares about the community and truly wants to make it a better place. Dax’s song “Black Lives Matter” highlights the need for a change in the way we educate kids and that we need to come together in order to create a nation that is safe for people of color. One of the ways I have seen how we miseducate students is through intentionally leaving out important details such as Christopher Columbus murdering many native Americans and leaving out people of color who had an enormous impact on history. I personally saw this in my own educational experience (I didn’t learn about many important people of color until high school (or even college) or if I did learn it before high school it was because of research I did on my own) and I see this in many other people’s educational experiences. Additionally, I think “America” by Logic also highlights the need for everyone to come together to fight against racial injustice and that we also all need to recognize the fact that this injustice exists. While these songs in no way capture all the issues we see in relation to racial inequality, it got me thinking about what our world could look like with racial equality.

I also made a full playlist of these songs and others that I think convey a similar message about racial equality: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6c7T1BUG13a9bvWWosy02j?si=9fe69de8a9654e10

Through looking at these songs and just by thinking through this idea myself, I think a world with racial justice would be one where people of color no longer have to fear being mistreated by law enforcement or by white people. Additionally, I think a world with racial justice would be one where every child is educated on history to the fullest extent, meaning they learn about the impacts of people of color and what impacts some of the actions of white people who are often crowned as heroes in history. I also think America would be a country with a lot less violence if we had racial equity. Racial equity would allow for people of color to have access to the same resources that white people do. This would include things like being able to go to better schools, get jobs they are qualified for, and getting paid an equal amount of money.

Overall, I think this version of America would be so much more peaceful and happy if everyone is treated equally no matter the color of their skin. While I think this is something we all know will take a lot of time and effort, it isn’t impossible and is always something we should be striving to do better at.

Citations:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/05/defunding-the-police-us-what-does-it-mean