Thoughts on the Protests

I know what I said Monday, about sticking to pop culture stuff, but as I watched the news, looked at social media and just thought about the state of the world last night, I feel like I need to address what is going on.

I want to try and formulate how bad this is, why is it this bad, did we have to get to this state and how much it bothers me to see systemic racism in 2020. Black people in America are being killed for no other reason than the color of their skin. That was painful to write. We now are seeing it almost everyday. And it has only gotten worse to date. We have Ahmaud Arbery who was shot while simply jogging. There was a black gentleman in Kentucky I believe who was murdered over the weekend and left on the street for upwards of eight hours. There was George Floyd who was audibly telling the horrific and murderous police officer that he "couldn't breath". And there are countless others, almost too many to count, which is so shameful, that have lost their life for being black.

I don't know how, or if, it will ever change. Saying all this, I get the protests. I want to be out there so bad protesting, fighting for injustice, but I have a wife and two little kids. I am going to fight this the best way I know how, but unfortunately for me, that is from a computer or on a podcast. I was raised, am raising my kids and trying to help anyone else out there to not see people for the color of their skin. I was told to get to know someone first before I judge them. It was ingrained in me to meet someone, talk to them, ask questions and really, truly get to know them. I do the same with my kids. So does my wife. I have never crossed to the other side of the street because I saw a person of color coming towards me. I have never been afraid to go to places that are considered "dangerous" by others because I know I'll be okay. I have never simply decided to not befriend a person because they didn't grow up like I did. It's just not in my DNA. And, as you all know, I am a 37 year old white male that grew up middle class. I have never wanted for, longed for or wished I had stuff. I grew up privileged to a degree. I have been harassed by local police. I have been pulled over while driving with some of my African American friends in the car. I had long hair and Bob Marley stickers on my car as a teenager, so I was followed many times by police. Still, I have no idea what was really going through my friends heads when we were pulled over. I don't know how scared they were. I don't know if they felt they had to be ready to defend themselves. I look back at that time in my life and think, were my actions making them more fearful than they could have been. I was brutally honest with the police when I was pulled over. I would ask why they were doing this, what they were looking for, why they were harassing me. I never once thought, maybe I shouldn't do this, you know, for the sake and safety of my friends. I guess that is what it is like to be a white kid in the Midwest. I had no fear. But, maybe my friends did. That is a feeling I don't think I ever knew, and I hope my kids don't.

With all that being said, I want my kids to know that, even though they are growing up the same way I did, they need to feel empathy and sympathy for friends of theirs that are not white. I want them to respect and understand why they may be afraid of other white people or cops or people who are supposed to be "in charge". The biggest shame of it all right now is how the "government" is handling this whole situation. That coward that currently resides in the White House is sitting in a bunker and having his people fire rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters. What a punk he is. This is really showing his true colors. And for those of you that see this, think it is okay and still support him, kindly go screw yourself and please don't talk to me ever about politics. I don't agree with you, I never will and I don't respect you. That bogus photo op he did at that church was one of the slimiest and most devious things I have ever seen. Joe Biden is out there visiting people, talking to people, letting it be known that he wants to listen, and that obese scumbag that resides in the White House is hiding out. He is a racist, a fascist and a coward. I simply cannot believe it has come to this with that monster. I am appalled.

As for the protests, as I said before, I stand with the protesters. I want them to let their voice be heard. I want them to be out there yelling from the hilltops to be respected, to be heard, to be allowed to speak. They deserve that right. As for the looting, I am not a looter. I don't get the appeal of breaking and taking stuff. But I understand the anger. I get that some are so upset and down trodden that they figure this is the best way to get someones attention. I think the punk ass surfers, and white people with masks doing it are wrong. They just want free stuff. But the people that are actually affected by this systemic racism, I get it. As for the police, I have never trusted them. I have never really respected them. Like I said, I was a target because of the way I looked as a teen, and that has sat with me ever since then. I also brought a good amount of my inner city friends out to the county all the time, and that made the police act even more suspicious of me and my buddies. I know not all police are bad, but it seems to be that a good majority of them are not that good. That they have had some weird vendetta since they were a kid, and now that they have weapons and some "authority", they are letting it get to their head. Everyone is talking about the looters and protesters being "one bad apple", the same can be said about the police, expect it is more like 50 percent are bad apples.

I wished as a kid that racism was going to be a thing of the past when I became an adult. Unfortunately it only seems to be getting worse and I truly don't know if it will ever go away, if we will ever live in a world where everyone is treated equal. We live in a very, very dark timeline right now, and it is very unfortunate for all of us that the "powers that be" are only stoking the flames. I hope we all do the right thing, the grown up thing, and vote for change come November. That is the only hope I have right now for the future of this country. If we get another four years of this, we could be in a very awful downward spiral, even worse than what is going on currently. Let's all go out and prove that we don't like this, that we don't accept this, that we want change. Let's all do that come November. In the end, Black Lives Matter. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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