Yesterday, they released the video of the Ahmaud Arbery’s lynching. Yesterday Ida B Wells posthumously received the Pulitzer prize for her lynching investigations at the end of the 19th Century and beginning of the 20th Century. The irony of these two events occurring on the same day was not lost on me.
It’s a sad reminder that unless we do something differently this time, we will forever find ourselves in this invidious cycle of oppression and terror, where society celebrates historical figures who fought for justice in the past while denying victims of lynching and state violence justice in the present.
Admiration of the dead, or those who no longer pose a threat to their power and wealth, is how current perpetrators of injustice absolve themselves of their wrong. It also gives them license to continue their actions. That’s why society loves to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his dream, but constantly work to undermine it.
In the face of this cycle of oppression, I’m forced to ask myself, what must we do with the death of Ahmaud Arbery to break the cycle? Is it enough that we ask a reluctant state attorney to charge these two men with murder? That’s what we did when George Zimmerman murdered Trayvon Martin. We asked a reluctant state attorney to bring Zimmerman to trial; we got a trial that was poorly prosecuted in my opinion, and the murderer was acquitted by a jury with no black people. I have no reason to believe the results will be different with Arbery’s murder.
So again I ask myself, what must we do with the death of Ahmaud Arbery to break the cycle? If the historical evidence lets us know that the court system is likely not going to give us justice, then we must find another route.
Frederick Douglass said, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has, and it never will.” What will be our demand? What must we require of America to ensure that in eight years I’m not comparing another black man to Arbery or Martin?
What will we do with the death of Ahmaud Arbery?
Yes, awarding Ida B Wells the Pulitzer was well deserved. But if we don’t answer the question posed above and justice is again denied, then Wells’ award will be reduced to a hallow ceremony, an empty gesture.
I believe if Wells were alive today, her response to the question would echo the words of the prophet Amos, “And stop making that music for me–it’s just noise. I will not listen to the melodies you play on the harp. Here’s what I want: Let justice thunder down like a waterfall; let righteousness flow like a mighty river that never runs dry.” (Amos 5:23-24 VOICE).
–Until Next Time–
Palooke
