Crossroad’s teams are, at their base, institutions to combat institutional racism. They train people to combat institutional racism. Training can take anywhere from six months, to 2 years. Teams will often connect in regional -or national- meetups.
Olympia’s Shooting
Early this morning, in Olympia Washington (Where I live) Bryson Chaplin, and Andre Thompson were shot by Olympia Police officer Ryan Donald.
Ryan Donald is a white Olympia police officer, who has had a great track record up until today. Andre and Bryson are stepbrothers who enjoyed skating at Yauger Park.
http://www.theolympian.com/2015/05/21/3737619_two-suspected-shoplifters-shot.html?rh=1
“Does the punishment fit the crime? Given the seeming epidemic of this happening not only here but in our country, it makes you pause and wonder what’s going on.”
-Merritt Long
Don’t Let Them Get Away With Murder Music Video
I strongly suggest that you watch this. It is both moving, and informational.
It shows that there are many, many different mediums to carry the message that you want them to.
Ferguson and Beyond: Teach-in Video
Part the First: Race, and the idea of it.
Warning: This post is from a slightly scientific viewpoint! Proceed with caution!
As not many people know, race is an idea, and not a physical trait (http://www.pbs.org/race/001_WhatIsRace/001_00-home.htm). Some (Very few, I used to when I was really little) people think that people of different races are subspecies of humans, but if that were even remotely close to the truth, humans wouldn’t be able to reproduce without having hybrid offspring.
Race, at least I believe it that was created as a way for people to categorize people of different skin colors into different groups. My knowledge isn’t completely reliable, so, go research this, and report back to me!
What is Racism, and what can we do to stop it?
Racism is easily one of our society’s most prevalent atrocities. Proof of this is Baltimore and Ferguson, which both sparked massive protests, rallies, and riots. This essay will mainly focus on police brutality. Mike Brown, Freddie Gray, and Eric Garner were all killed because of racial profiling, and racist police officers. Law Enforcement has been portrayed as evil in the media, which isn’t all true. Some police departments are corrupt, but it’s not usually the whole department, just a certain percentage of the officers. Protests have risen out of the murders of the three men, and countless more, and it has to stop.
Racism is a form of discrimination, and starts when one ethnic group thinks or believes that they are better than another, and deserve more rights. Racism has been around for a very long time, and should have never existed. Many people don’t know race is a modern idea. Ancient societies based discrimination more on religion, status, class, and wealth, than skin color.
Racism is also prominent in entertainment, the media, news, and almost everywhere. There are many stereotypes, and instances of racism in our daily lives . The BBC’s Top Gear show is an example, in which Richard Hammond was scripted to say, “The Burmese all kinda look the same to me.” Many people tend to think that all people of one or another race all look the same, which isn’t true, as all people have different genetics within ethnicities.
The racism we hear about in media and in our daily lives is most always in America, because our media tends to focus on our country when it comes to the news. However, in the age of the internet we can watch the news from other countries and realize that racism exists in countries like Pakistan, Russia, and India. (http://listovative.com/top-12-most-racist-countries-in-the-world/). India has been called the most racist country in the world because of the caste system, which is another form of racism. Racism, prejudice and xenophobia are rampant in India. Here’s what a prominent blogger wrote. “It’s a strange mixture of prejudice, ignorance and centuries-old discriminatory practices, when communities kept to themselves and there were dining taboos based on caste. You couldn’t eat with people not of your caste or marry into their communities.”- Mari Marcel Thekaekara (Thekaekara, Mari M. “There’s No Escaping Racism in India.” New Internationalist All Posts RSS. N.p., 3 June 2011. Web. 16 May 2015.). Other countries, like Russia, are xenophobic. Xenophobia is when you have a fear of people or things that are different than you. This is proof that racism is still very, very real in countries outside of America, and that it still is a problem.
Ferguson is a town in Missouri in which the murder of Michael Brown by Darren Wilson, a white police officer occurred. Ferguson had a very long history of racism, and white flight. Ferguson is a is 67.4% Black, while the police department is only 5% Black. (Eckholm, Erik, and Matt Apuzzo. “Darren Wilson Is Cleared of Rights Violations in Ferguson Shooting.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 Mar. 2015. Web. 16 May 2015.) Brown’s family rightfully called Officer Wilson’s non-indictment a “Blatant Disrespect”. some of Ferguson’s police department engaged in racial profiling, and racism. After Brown’s murder, they were fired from their positions. Community policing is important because the police can see the community, and begin to reflect it more. If Ferguson’s police could have been similar to the citizens, the murder never would have occurred. That’s important because without the police reflecting the community, they won’t be able to have an understanding, and more people would be. (Wikipedia, The death of Michael Brown).
Many horrible things come from racism– the assassinations of Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr, the murders of Trayvon Martin, Freddie Gray, and Michael Brown. Protests, rallies and riots have bloomed all over Ferguson and Baltimore, with the National Guard being called into Baltimore. Many people are left depressed and deflated after being a victim of racism, which can lead to suicide. Students are regularly bullied, teased, or stereotyped purely because of their race and ethnicity.
Fundraisers, rallies, picket-lines, letter drives, and campaigns, all over the world; These go on day to day to address racism. The ACLU recently released an app helping people report police brutality and violence called Cop Block, which allows you to record events of police brutality, covertly. Marches and protests all across the nation are happening. Protests in Baltimore have been going on since the death of Freddie Gray, and many different ways of protesting have been sparked, including a rap song by Jasiri X, called Don’t Let Them Get Away With Murder. (Colorofchange.org) Organizations like Crossroads Antiracism build racial justice in different institutions, and train others to continue their mission.
The reason that this issue is so important to me is that I have been a victim of racism in the past, and in my lifetime, I’d love to see it gone. I’ve seen people become the victim before, and it’s horrible. My experience was during last summer, and a user brought his little brother to the game, and he used a racial slur against me. This made me feel that some of my generation had failed as civil people, and it propelled me to want to organize youth against racism. Adam Fletcher, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Fletcher_(activist)] who I had the honor of interviewing during the writing of this paper, also inspired me, as he is a youth organizer. The way I propose to organize is by having a anti-racism blog for people who want to know more about race and racism, and what they can do to help stop racism.
Hi!
Hi, Zac here! I see that you’ve found my blog, and are interesting in eradicating racism! Here people will share ideas of how to eliminate or a least minimize racism.
That said, I post a regularly as I can, as I have classwork, and please, contribute anything helpful, be it criticism, ideas, suggestions, rallies, or campaigns.
Junior Anti-Racism Collective 