Yesterday I read a post by one of my high school classmates and was a bit taken aback. She’d shared an article about an unarmed young white male who’d been gunned down by a black police officer. Her caption was:
Is anyone aware of the unarmed white man who was shot dead by a black police officer on August 11th.
Disclaimer: She has the right to post whatever she wants on Facebook or any other public social media space. If I don’t like it, I have the right to not look at it, defriend her or otherwise avoid it. But I choose not to.
I don’t have an issue with police brutality being publicized, regardless of the officer’s race. What I struggled with was her claim that Ferguson and the many other instances of young, unarmed black people being gunned down by cops does not reveal a race problem. She claims it reveals a police brutality problem. Most of the people who responded to her post believe it reveals both – and so do I.
Like I said though, I could have just scrolled past her post and acted like I hadn’t seen it. But I read through the comments. I didn’t add to them, but liked the ones I agreed with. Why? Because some social media arguments are worth getting into – and because arguments about whether or not race is a problem in America are the most worthwhile of them all. Here’s why I embrace these social media arguments:
Unlike others on my Facebook friends list, I choose not to defriend people who have a different stance on Ferguson and race than I do. I choose to challenge them. I choose to participate, even quietly in these social media arguments. Not only does it remind me that some people don’t think my brown skin makes anyone treat me differently; it also forces me to hear opinions and experiences different than my own, which is what I encourage others to do during times like these.
I don’t have an issue with police brutality being publicized, regardless of the officer’s race. What I struggled with was her claim that Ferguson and the many other instances of young, unarmed black people being gunned down by cops does not reveal a race problem. She claims it reveals a police brutality problem. Most of the people who responded to her post believe it reveals both – and so do I.
Like I said though, I could have just scrolled past her post and acted like I hadn’t seen it. But I read through the comments. I didn’t add to them, but liked the ones I agreed with. Why? Because some social media arguments are worth getting into – and because arguments about whether or not race is a problem in America are the most worthwhile of them all. Here’s why I embrace these social media arguments:
- They don’t allow us to forget about Ferguson. Though some media outlets are focusing on looting and rioting, social media arguments and open discussions that raise tough questions about Mike Brown’s death help us remember that an unarmed black kid was killed and that it is wrong. If we allow ourselves to forget about Mike Brown, we are allowing ourselves to continue living with the inequality. We are allowing ourselves to see the inequality as commonplace instead of taking issue with it – at least until the next unarmed black kid gets gunned down.
- Though cyclical, these arguments allow many people to get their points across. With television news coverage of cases like Ferguson, the host gets to referee the conversation. The questions raised are at the discretion of the host and producers, and there is little room for constructive deviation from those topics. On social media sites or comments below videos or articles, someone can sit at their computer for however long they want, respond directly to whomever they want, and answer whichever questions they want. Tempers tend to rise, but being able to hit send whenever they’d like allows respondents to construct statements based more on facts and experiences than sheer emotion.
- More people are talking about it. Of all the people who responded to the post I referred to earlier, the only person with whom I’d had a conversation about race was my own brother. The opinions of the other six respondents were previously unknown to me. These social media arguments are important because FINALLY it’s not just a bunch of black people who know each other sitting in a room talking about racial inequality. It’s everyone sharing his or her thoughts, experiences, and opinions. There are some people who have honestly never realized the depth of the inequality. There are others who realize it and see their white privilege as an opportunity to spread an attitude of equality. Still others don’t want to talk about race – but these are the people being challenged the most on social media. These are the people who post about an unarmed white male being gunned down by a black cop (which is just as sad and unfortunate and wrong). These are the same people who return to Facebook just hours later with ten notifications – each representing someone who disagrees with attempts to push race further under the rug – and about half as many likes – each representing someone who agrees that racial inequality should be pushed under the rug, but choose to remain silent about why.
Unlike others on my Facebook friends list, I choose not to defriend people who have a different stance on Ferguson and race than I do. I choose to challenge them. I choose to participate, even quietly in these social media arguments. Not only does it remind me that some people don’t think my brown skin makes anyone treat me differently; it also forces me to hear opinions and experiences different than my own, which is what I encourage others to do during times like these.