I'm still alive.
I'm still alive.
Without trying to sound overly dramatic, I want to write about why I believe in and support the current protests going on in America. We have for a time now seen NFL players taking a knee, or sitting on the bench during the National Anthem. So here is a story from my life, and some thoughts.
I'm still alive, and it's because I'm white.
My family and a few close friends and colleagues know this story, but it wasn't until recently that the entire event has really taken a deeper meaning with me. Before my wife was pregnant I spent some time basically wasting life away as an Uber driver trying to avoid the daily 9-5 grind. What I found was that to make money, I had to drive drunk people home at night. About this time, there were surfacing stories about people attacking their Uber drivers. Well, I'm a little dude with little muscles. And at the time, didn't have the money to get a CCW license to carry a firearm. So I did what I thought was the next best thing, I tucked a homemade machete in between my seat and my console. The idea what that if some big drunk guy decided he wanted to fight, I could hop out and wave it like the Hokey Pokey, and hopefully leave him standing on the side of the road as I drove away.
Fast forward about 6 months, I was driving home from my last drop off around 2 or 3 in the morning, and speeding. 17 miles or so an hour above the speed limit, and late at night. I got pulled over, and the officer was getting the information he needed to issue a ticket, all fine and dandy, no arguments out of me, I was speeding. A second officer I was unaware of approached my car on the passenger side and tapped my window with his flashlight. I rolled my window down and he asked me what was in my seat. I asked for clarification, and he pointed to the handle of my machete. I told him what it was and why I had it, and he asked me to give it to him, so I did. All the time, remaining in my car and receiving a ticket. The officers went back to their car and made me wait about 45 minutes. Finally coming back and informing me that I had committed a felony by carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. They gave me an additional ticket for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and said I would have to show up for court where I would probably do jail time and face felony charges.
My world got rocked. My wife's world got rocked. My family was rocked. My poor brother who had made and given me the machete for Christmas felt terrible.
We lawyered up, paid thousands of dollars for the lawyer (Thank God we had access to the resources to do this), and met with the prosecutor who threatened that if we took this to trial he would do everything in his power to convince the jury I was guilty, and get me the maximum sentence allowable, which was 6 months in jail, $5,000 fine, and a felony on my record. My lawyer advised that we settle it for the annoyingly high court fees, and take a misdemeanor ticket. That's what we choose, I couldn't risk going to jail even though we knew I was innocent of the charge.
But here are the kickers. I was supposed to be arrested and my car impounded. I was supposed to be searched on scene. Just to go to court I had to jump through hoops because my fingerprints were not in the system. It was a huge hassle because they were supposed to get my fingerprints when I was arrested. But those officers knew I wasn't a threat to them or anyone else and let me go home.
Now, does any reasonable person expect that a black man in my shoes, with my story, would have been treated the same way? A black man pulled over for breaking the law in the middle of the night with a non-licensed-partially-concealed homemade weapon in the car? F-No. That poor guy would have been yanked out of the car, had the dogs brought out to search it, and would have been roughed up to say the least. Legitimately that man would have feared for his life the second the officer saw the blade and asked about it, probably with gun drawn.
I'm alive because I'm white. Is it wrong that I'm alive? No. Is it wrong that every person who reads this would have expected a black man in my shoes to have been yanked out of the car and roughed up? Yes.
That is why people are protesting right now. We don't like it when the protestors block the streets. We don't like it when they riot and loot things. But now we have gainfully-employed black men deciding to make a nationally visible statement using the NFL (Yes, their job) as a platform to say that the black community in America would like us to face the truth of it's current predicament. And leading the charge to tell these people to shut their mouths is the President of the United States of America. That's why I stand with the movement. Because everyone knows I was treated differently than a black man would have been. I was perfectly within my rights to have the machete in my car. A black man would have been perfectly within his rights to have the machete within his car. But officers are allowed to be wrong and cost citizens money, that officer didn't even have to be present at court to answer for issuing an unlawful ticket. No repercussions on his end, and I still had to pay my lawyer and the court and ticket fees.
This event put my family in debt.
This event would have cost a black man his life.
So by all means, take a knee when others want to throw up patriotic heroism all over you. Our country is a pretty great place, but I believe it is reasonable for people to expect it to get better. It is perfectly reasonable for someone to use every method within his ability to do so. We see CEO's make political statements all the time. Does anyone expect Bill Gates to stop using his wealth and position in this world to make it a better place? Or are people upset that it's the black men making the statement? Is it because they are at work? Really? This is a life and death conversation. Do you really expect the only form of protest to be a certified and permitted march or gathering? Really? Men and Women's lives are in danger all over the country because of the color of their skin. It's ok to value their protest and understand where they are coming from. Let your self see the world from their shoes.
Let yourself understand that in the United States of America, we make up 2% of the worlds population. We also hold 21% of the worlds prisoners. Though African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately 32% of the US population, they comprised 56% of all incarcerated people in 2015. This is why people are sitting during the national anthem. Not one person has come out and said they are sitting because they hate the individuals that have given their lives, or are currently serving our country in the military. That's not what it's about, and honestly they probably don't care much that people are offended. Because black men are dying in our streets. So being offended takes a back seat to death. You ban be offended while you aren't incarcerated for a non-violent offense. Because millions of Americans are currently incarcerated for non-violent offenses.
This blog post is me taking a knee, and hoping I can offer something to the communities that are suffering in America today. I'm still alive, and a lot of men who are not still deserve to be alive as well.
Without trying to sound overly dramatic, I want to write about why I believe in and support the current protests going on in America. We have for a time now seen NFL players taking a knee, or sitting on the bench during the National Anthem. So here is a story from my life, and some thoughts.
I'm still alive, and it's because I'm white.
My family and a few close friends and colleagues know this story, but it wasn't until recently that the entire event has really taken a deeper meaning with me. Before my wife was pregnant I spent some time basically wasting life away as an Uber driver trying to avoid the daily 9-5 grind. What I found was that to make money, I had to drive drunk people home at night. About this time, there were surfacing stories about people attacking their Uber drivers. Well, I'm a little dude with little muscles. And at the time, didn't have the money to get a CCW license to carry a firearm. So I did what I thought was the next best thing, I tucked a homemade machete in between my seat and my console. The idea what that if some big drunk guy decided he wanted to fight, I could hop out and wave it like the Hokey Pokey, and hopefully leave him standing on the side of the road as I drove away.
Fast forward about 6 months, I was driving home from my last drop off around 2 or 3 in the morning, and speeding. 17 miles or so an hour above the speed limit, and late at night. I got pulled over, and the officer was getting the information he needed to issue a ticket, all fine and dandy, no arguments out of me, I was speeding. A second officer I was unaware of approached my car on the passenger side and tapped my window with his flashlight. I rolled my window down and he asked me what was in my seat. I asked for clarification, and he pointed to the handle of my machete. I told him what it was and why I had it, and he asked me to give it to him, so I did. All the time, remaining in my car and receiving a ticket. The officers went back to their car and made me wait about 45 minutes. Finally coming back and informing me that I had committed a felony by carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. They gave me an additional ticket for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and said I would have to show up for court where I would probably do jail time and face felony charges.
My world got rocked. My wife's world got rocked. My family was rocked. My poor brother who had made and given me the machete for Christmas felt terrible.
We lawyered up, paid thousands of dollars for the lawyer (Thank God we had access to the resources to do this), and met with the prosecutor who threatened that if we took this to trial he would do everything in his power to convince the jury I was guilty, and get me the maximum sentence allowable, which was 6 months in jail, $5,000 fine, and a felony on my record. My lawyer advised that we settle it for the annoyingly high court fees, and take a misdemeanor ticket. That's what we choose, I couldn't risk going to jail even though we knew I was innocent of the charge.
But here are the kickers. I was supposed to be arrested and my car impounded. I was supposed to be searched on scene. Just to go to court I had to jump through hoops because my fingerprints were not in the system. It was a huge hassle because they were supposed to get my fingerprints when I was arrested. But those officers knew I wasn't a threat to them or anyone else and let me go home.
Now, does any reasonable person expect that a black man in my shoes, with my story, would have been treated the same way? A black man pulled over for breaking the law in the middle of the night with a non-licensed-partially-concealed homemade weapon in the car? F-No. That poor guy would have been yanked out of the car, had the dogs brought out to search it, and would have been roughed up to say the least. Legitimately that man would have feared for his life the second the officer saw the blade and asked about it, probably with gun drawn.
I'm alive because I'm white. Is it wrong that I'm alive? No. Is it wrong that every person who reads this would have expected a black man in my shoes to have been yanked out of the car and roughed up? Yes.
That is why people are protesting right now. We don't like it when the protestors block the streets. We don't like it when they riot and loot things. But now we have gainfully-employed black men deciding to make a nationally visible statement using the NFL (Yes, their job) as a platform to say that the black community in America would like us to face the truth of it's current predicament. And leading the charge to tell these people to shut their mouths is the President of the United States of America. That's why I stand with the movement. Because everyone knows I was treated differently than a black man would have been. I was perfectly within my rights to have the machete in my car. A black man would have been perfectly within his rights to have the machete within his car. But officers are allowed to be wrong and cost citizens money, that officer didn't even have to be present at court to answer for issuing an unlawful ticket. No repercussions on his end, and I still had to pay my lawyer and the court and ticket fees.
This event put my family in debt.
This event would have cost a black man his life.
So by all means, take a knee when others want to throw up patriotic heroism all over you. Our country is a pretty great place, but I believe it is reasonable for people to expect it to get better. It is perfectly reasonable for someone to use every method within his ability to do so. We see CEO's make political statements all the time. Does anyone expect Bill Gates to stop using his wealth and position in this world to make it a better place? Or are people upset that it's the black men making the statement? Is it because they are at work? Really? This is a life and death conversation. Do you really expect the only form of protest to be a certified and permitted march or gathering? Really? Men and Women's lives are in danger all over the country because of the color of their skin. It's ok to value their protest and understand where they are coming from. Let your self see the world from their shoes.
Let yourself understand that in the United States of America, we make up 2% of the worlds population. We also hold 21% of the worlds prisoners. Though African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately 32% of the US population, they comprised 56% of all incarcerated people in 2015. This is why people are sitting during the national anthem. Not one person has come out and said they are sitting because they hate the individuals that have given their lives, or are currently serving our country in the military. That's not what it's about, and honestly they probably don't care much that people are offended. Because black men are dying in our streets. So being offended takes a back seat to death. You ban be offended while you aren't incarcerated for a non-violent offense. Because millions of Americans are currently incarcerated for non-violent offenses.
This blog post is me taking a knee, and hoping I can offer something to the communities that are suffering in America today. I'm still alive, and a lot of men who are not still deserve to be alive as well.
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