I am not Mike Brown. I am white. I am middle class. I am female. I am small. I am not considered a threat. When police see me they see someone who looks like them. They see their mothers, their daughters, their sisters, themselves. I am not at risk of being shot by police for existing while black. I am not at risk of being shot while unarmed. I am not at risk of being shot while armed with nothing more than a BB gun. I am not at risk of being shot for reaching for my wallet. I am privileged.
But I am outraged. And if you aren’t outraged, then you aren’t paying attention. This is America in 2014. This is our reality. It’s so easy to get jaded and to ignore these atrocities, to act like this doesn’t affect us. It’s so easy to get apathetic. In the past it was the youth who protested. Where is the rage of the youth? Where is our rage?
Like I said, I am not Mike Brown. But I am outraged.
I wrote this the week after Mike Brown was shot. I naively thought that this case would be different. That Darren Wilson would be punished, at the very least fired or pressured to resign. I thought that public outcry would mean something. I have never been more angry. I have never been more outraged. I wish I could say I were surprised.
(via sailorspacecase)
if you aren’t outraged, then you aren’t paying attention
(via mysweetayngel)