Bias. We all have it. Whether we know it or not, they are there. Sadly, some biases are so extreme, that they can change the course of someone’s life in a matter of seconds. This leads to profiling. Racial profiling is the reason why so many unarmed black men are shot in the streets of their own neighborhoods, convicted of crimes that they had nothing to do with, and pulled over for simply “driving while black”. Five to 20. 10 to 30. These are large numbers that are given for small crimes, long years that black families are forced to be split up from their loved ones, and numbers that mark the time where black males are taken out of society. However, this is the reality when you are black. When you are born black, that is your crime.
Recent movies such as Just Mercy, Queen and Slim, and The Hate You Give have shed a cinematic light on the reality and weight of situations that many black communities live through every day, but this has been going on for as long as there has been an America. We are constantly being drilled with the idea that we live in this society of “ land of the free and the home of the brave ”, but not everyone in this country can truly feel free. Claiming your innocence while being black is a very difficult thing to do. Black males in particular have had their innocence suppressed time after time solely by the fact that they are black. When a black male shows up in a courtroom, before they even open their mouth, most times they are automatically seen as guilty. This is a fact that so many choose to turn a blind eye because it takes away the image of America being fair and all about equality that majority communities try so hard to uphold. In reality, people seek an easy target, and that popular target just so happens to be the brown skin of overlooked black people.
The justice system is masked by the idea that they are getting rid of the problem, but instead they are the problem. The real ins and outs of this system remain questionable, but for one thing it is not justice. There is no reason that I, and many other black women alike, should be afraid of raising a young black child in this society. Why is it more popular to go viral on twitter for a funny post than it is to work towards efforts to prevent innocent families from being torn apart, and disheveled because of bias and bigotry? This is a problem, and instead of ignoring the ugly truth, it’s time to wake up and actually do something about it. Now don’t get me wrong, there are gems within the system that are doing honest work out here, but it’s the other ones who ruin it for everyone else. We have now become afraid of a system that is supposed to serve and protect. Instead, we are being systemized and categorized by this so called “justice” system. This isn’t okay, and we should not be used to this. No more settling, and no more sitting back to watch, it is now or never, and the future is in our hands.