By Aly Kirke, TIWP Student
There’s a community gathered. Maybe thousands. They’re mostly white. I can’t help but wonder how much they really care. When I hear racist slurs in the hallways of my school, seldom met with a talking to, it’s hard to believe that this many people would show up in the same town. I wonder how many people in this crowd let it slide when their white friend said the n-word. I wonder how many of them have said it themselves.
My sister called me yesterday, frustrated with her friends. She was upset because all of a sudden, they cared. They were talking about how awful the killing of George Floyd was, and yet one of them posted that all lives matter, and neither of them voted. But now that everybody is seeming to care, they’re suddenly white allies.
It’s not enough to post to social media that you’re an ally. If you haven’t donated, protested, signed petitions, or voted, how can you call yourself an ally? The oppression of black people is not for you to use to be “trendy.” Haven’t black people been used enough?
I stand here in this crowd and I can’t stop asking myself, “Where have these people been?” But I know. They’ve been chilling in their bubble of white privilege. I just hope that George Floyd is enough to pop that bubble.
Pens of the Pandemic 