5 Common Tactics Used Against the Fight for Racial Justice
By: L.A. Justice
Tags: Police Brutality, BlackLivesMatter, Racial Justice, Racism, Anti Racism

Black lives matter activist movement protesting against racism and fighting for equality — Demonstrators from different cultures and race protest on street for justice and equal rights | Alessandro Biascioli | Shutterstock.com

This country prides itself on the founding principles of “liberty and justice for all,” however, these values that are held so near & dear to America’s heart, have proven to be nothing more than a thinly veiled ideological fabrication, intended only to provide liberty and justice for the select few.

It is no secret that America’s most fundamental principles are rooted in racism and white supremacy, and black people in this country continue to find ourselves entangled in a quagmire of racial oppression that has persisted since this country’s inception.

As many of us continue the fight that seeks to dismantle systemic injustices that damage marginalized communities, we are constantly inundated with a barrage of racist rhetoric from those who wish to discredit and silence our voices. They not only try to attack the legitimacy of our analysis and our right to fight for justice but they oftentimes also try to make themselves out to be the victims. All this, to maintain the status quo of oppression. Here are 5 common tactics that are used:

1) Claims that blacks are the racists

Racists detest being confronted with their own racism and the way in which racism and white privilege have been institutionalized to benefit them, even if they are poor, uneducated, and live in a trailer park. They fail to understand the nuances of how systemic racism operates and the intersectionality between race and class. Because of this, a large majority of white Americans, in addition to those who are overtly racist, are either covertly complicit with the privileges afforded them because of the existence of racism, are in denial that they are racist, are in denial that racism even exists, or simply claim that black people are the ones who are racist against whites and are always race-baiting and causing division within the country.

This tactic, no matter how untrue it is, is intended to help maintain the structures of power and privilege that keep racial oppression firmly in place, keeping black people from achieving any semblance of equality and justice. Race, racism, and white supremacy are social constructs that are deeply entrenched within the foundation of this country, created purposely to normalize and privilege whiteness above all else.

This is why black people cannot be racist. We did not create these social constructs. We have never benefited from their existence, only victimized by their existence. And we have never had the ability to create and maintain various systems within an entire country, then infuse them with racist policies, procedures, practices, and people, and use them to oppress another entire race of people for hundreds of years simply because we think we are superior to all other human beings due to the color of our skin. Then repeat the same in various other countries through colonialism. This is why black people cannot be racist. Period.

In her book White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo also clarifies why people of color cannot be racist.

Racism is deeply embedded in the fabric of our society. It is not limited to a single act or person. Nor does it move back and forth, one day benefiting whites and another day (or even era) benefiting people of color. The direction of power between white people and people of color is historic, traditional, and normalized in ideology. Racism differs from individual racial prejudice and racial discrimination in the historical accumulation and ongoing use of institutional power and authority to support the prejudice and to systematically enforce discriminatory behaviors with far-reaching effects. People of color may also hold prejudices and discriminate against white people, but they lack the social and institutional power that transforms their prejudice and discrimination into racism; the impact of their prejudice on whites is temporary and contextual. Whites hold the social and institutional positions in society to infuse their racial prejudice into the laws, policies, practices, and norms of society in a way that people of color do not.¹

2) Accuse blacks of being anti-police

The terms “police brutality” and “defund the police” cause many people to become offended or even enraged, not about the actions behind the words, but about the use of the terms themselves. They feign ignorance about what these terms mean, in order to accuse black people of being anti-police, despite the numerous times they have been properly explained. This is a tactic used to disrupt conversations on racial justice and keep this country from defeating systemic oppression.

As has been said numerous times, being against police brutality does NOT mean being anti-police. It means being against the inhumane violence and human rights violations committed by the police, which are repeatedly and disproportionately carried out against members of the black community. It means being against the corruption and racism that exist in the law enforcement and criminal justice systems, which empowers officers to carry out their horrific aggression with impunity. Many people are vehemently against police brutality but are thankful for those police officers who truly embody the ideals of “protect and serve.”

Likewise, the use of the term “defund the police” also does not mean being anti-police. Again, defund the police means being against the abuses of power that have been endured by the black community at the hands of the police, and wanting law enforcement systems to redistribute funding to better serve their communities. This can be through more of a community policing model, as opposed to the militarized policing we are currently seeing, and through funding more community services such as employment, education, youth services, and housing.

3) Blame “black on black” crime

Admittedly, crime in predominantly poor black neighborhoods is a critical problem that must be resolved. However, it is a travesty for discussions on racism, racial violence, and police brutality to continuously be averted by turning them into discussions of “black on black” crime. This is a feeble attempt to circumvent judicious analysis of the actual issues of violence experienced by black men, women, and children at the hands of law enforcement officers and white supremacists. Doing so not only erroneously conflates issues of injustice, but it also keeps racial inequities flourishing.

“Black on black” crime is continuously purported to be the cause of the violence in poor black neighborhoods when it is actually the symptom. The root cause is hundreds of years of racial and economic oppression, and racial terrorism, at the hands of white supremacy. This fact is widely known and was originally reported on during the civil unrest of the Civil Rights era by the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders established by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967. In the Kerner Report the Commission states:

Segregation and poverty have created in the racial ghetto a destructive environment totally unknown to most white Americans. What white Americans have never fully understood — but what the Negro can never forget — is that white society is deeply implicated in the ghetto. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it.²

We are living in a country where the color of one’s skin has forced a large majority of African Americans to live in inhumane conditions in ghettoized neighborhoods that were specifically created via red-lining and gentrification. Douglas Massey explains this even further.

The emergence of the black ghetto did not happen as a chance by-product of other socioeconomic processes. Rather, white Americans made a series of deliberate decisions to deny blacks access to urban housing markets and to reinforce segregation. White America built and maintained the residential structures of the ghetto. Sometimes the decisions were individual, at other times they were collective, and at still other times the powers and prerogatives of government were harnessed to maintain the residential color line.³

When black people are repeatedly denied basic constitutional, human, and civil rights, are perpetually repressed and oppressed by various hegemonic forms of systemic racism, are forced to live in squalor generation after generation, and are constantly victimized by the violence of racial terrorism, this type of heinous oppression becomes deeply internalized and is then directed outward towards those in closest proximity, other black people. Then we get further victimized by white people using the term “black on black” crime as a weapon against us to circumvent progress in achieving racial justice.

4) Allege America is a “post-racial” meritocracy

A large segment of American society believes that racism no longer exists, choosing instead to believe in the myth of a “post-racial” meritocracy, whereby equality and justice exist for all, and success is based solely on one’s personal effort. They believe that because numerous immigrants have been able to come to this country by choice and succeed, as opposed to being brought in chains and forced into chattel slavery for 246 years, that black people just need to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.”

They believe that for millions of African Americans who have been the victims of poverty, unemployment, homelessness, corrupt capitalism, failing educational systems, housing discrimination, job discrimination, mass incarceration, and other injustices in the 155 years since slavery ended, it is simply because of a lack of personal effort or some moral defect.

They believe the deleterious long-term effects of 400+ years of unrelenting racial oppression suddenly dissipated when President Obama was elected, even with the abhorrent actions that we have seen take place during the Trump administration. Yet they refuse to see that America is nothing more than a white supremacist plutocracy, strategically cloaked in rhetoric that deceives them into believing it is an equitable, post-racial meritocracy.

5) Justify the murders of unarmed black men, women, and children

The murder of unarmed black people is often justified by the police, by politicians, and by popular culture. We have seen this occur when several victims of police brutality were criminalized after their death. George Floyd’s murder is one of the most appalling examples of this, where his supposed use of fentanyl has been proclaimed to be the reason for his death, as opposed to the 8:46 minutes that he was choked by Chauvin’s knee rammed into his throat.

We have also seen justification of the murder of unarmed blacks most prevalently with the Stand Your Ground Law and the legal doctrine of Qualified Immunity. Both have done a lot of harm to the black community. Both have been successfully invoked when unarmed black people have been murdered by racist officers and citizens. And both have allowed racists to kill with impunity.

Trayvon Martin’s murderer was allowed to invoke the Stand Your Ground law to get off scot-free, even though Trayvon was the one who was illegally pursued and accosted. Zimmerman was armed with a 9mm handgun, Trayvon had skittles and an iced tea. Trayvon’s right to stand his ground against his armed aggressor apparently was not justified in the eyes of the court.

Qualified immunity has proven to be especially egregious. Numerous officers involved in cases of police brutality have had murder charges dismissed because of Qualified Immunity. As the Cato Institute states:

Qualified immunity is a judicial doctrine that protects public officials from liability, even when they break the law. The doctrine has no valid legal basis, it regularly denies justice to victims whose rights have been violated, and it severely undermines official accountability, especially for members of law enforcement.⁴

Stand Your Ground and Qualified Immunity have both violated people’s human and civil rights, but Qualified Immunity goes one step further in violating people’s 4th Amendment right as well (protection against unreasonable search & seizure, and protection against excessive force).

America cannot continue to be in denial about its gruesome past and current reality regarding the grave effects racial oppression has had on black people, the majority of which has been legally sanctioned. White people must move beyond perpetuating the racist rhetoric used against black people whenever we call out the injustices and work towards creating an equal and just society for all.

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¹DiAngelo, Robin. White Fragility. Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press, 2018.

²The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. The Kerner Report. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2016 (original report published in 1968).

³Massey, Douglas S. and Denton, Nancy A. American Apartheid. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1993.

⁴Schweikert, Jay. The Cato Institute. “Qualified Immunity: A Legal, Practical, and Moral Failure.” Cato.org. Accessed December 16, 2020. Qualified Immunity: A Legal, Practical, and Moral Failure | Cato Institute