When Rodney King was beaten nearly to death by multiple white police officers in 1992, White America could not believe such an atrocity had occurred. The sad thing is that Rodney King was not unique in the violent abuse he endured; he was only unique in that someone caught it on film.
In 1992 it took a video of an innocent black man being beaten almost to death to get the attention of the American public. In 2012 it took a recorded phone call of an unarmed 16 year old boy being shot to death by a self-elected neighborhood watchman to get the attention of the American public. What about all of injustice committed against people of color on a day to day basis that isn't caught on film? Does it not count?
Even when we have video evidence of violence against black bodies at the hands of white police, the film has to be disturbing enough that we can't ignore it, because the last thing that White America wants to do is hold itself accountable. As Rankine describes it, there is no urgency to grieve for the black bodies murdered without proof (117).
Why do we care more about the murder or certain black bodies over others? It's because we only pay attention to the ones with video evidence so gruesome and painful that we can't avoid it.
The idea you brought up about the white public not believing that injustice is committed against black people until they see a video is extremely important. There is always so much more going on than people realize, and it is only when a video surfaces that people really pay attention, if they do at all. It is sad and messed up that people in our country won't believe or pay attention to issues until evidence is shoved in front of our faces.
ReplyDeleteThis is a lot of what Rankine is saying when she asserts that to white people, black people are invisible. We refuse to see them without evidence, whether its evidence of them doing amazing things or us murdering them, and even with evidence we ignore it.
ReplyDelete