At the outset of this blog, let me be crystal clear, I am not opposed to any group protesting. I believe that everyone has the right to protest, so do not come on this blog with that argument because it is not the argument I am trying to make. That is taking the easy way out, and you will miss the point of this blog. Thank you.

While the coronavirus continues to spread like wildfire across the United States, governors around the country have called on citizens to stay home and only go to places deemed essential such as work, the grocery store, and pharmacy. Because the coronavirus is highly contagious, we have been asked not to gather in groups of 10 or more and to remain at least 6 feet apart to keep from contracting the virus.

The shutting down of states has been going on for about four weeks (give or take), and many White people have lost their collective shit. Across the nation, protests have started popping up with even Donald Trump calling on individual states to “Liberate” themselves. Liberate themselves from WHAT? Being at home watching Netflix and day drinking?

While many people of all races understand the measures that governors are taking, there is a select group of White people that feel being told to stay home, so they do not CATCH A DEADLY VIRUS is equal to slavery.

Staying at home, watching Hulu, making Tik Tok videos, trying out new recipes, having Zoom happy hours, and doing online yoga in your living room is NOT equivalent to slavery in any way, shape, or form. I will not even get into how ridiculous this is as a comparison because most of us understand the horrors of slavery. We know the enormous injustice committed against Black people that America has never righted. (Funny when White people needed money, the government found that money real quickly but always have to “study” if Black people need reparations.) We understand centuries of slavery, terror lynchings, Jim Crow, and the fight for just basic CIVIL Rights. The impact of years of injustice is still manifesting themselves today as we watch how the coronavirus is disproportionately impacting Black people. Let me be clear, unlike White people that pretend they don’t see color, the coronavirus REALLY does not see color. The coronavirus is not a Black disease. The reason why Black people are more affected by this virus is because of racist policies that have long impacted the health and well-being of Black people. PERIOD!

This is very simple for people that want to understand to understand. Still, many White people don’t want to focus on the underlying issues that have led to many Black people having poor health conditions. They want to focus on their oppression from not having a haircut. They want to speak about the chains of bondage of having to order two iced teas to go. Because, of course, EVERYTHING is about White discomfort. Black people were brought to this country in chains 400 years ago. Black people survived enslavement, beatings, picking cotton from sun up to sundown, lynchings, Jim Crow laws, fighting for civil rights, redlining, mass incarceration, police brutality, and the list goes on and on. We have been in this country for 400 years and try as this nation might, it STILL CANNOT BREAK US! Some White people didn’t get a haircut for just 4 weeks, and they broke!

I find it extremely funny that many White people are the first ones to tell Black people to “get over” slavery, but as soon as they were ASKED not to leave the house, the tears begin to flow like the Mighty Mississippi. (I emphasize asked because Black people weren’t asked if they wanted to come to America on slave ships. If your dumb ass wants to go outside, go outside, Natural selection is a beautiful thing.) Suddenly, so-called patriotic White people didn’t have a problem with protesting. Shockingly, White people didn’t have ANY problem receiving food stamps and “government handouts.” Magically the, “Why don’t they listen to authority” clause went out the window.

Why? BECAUSE MANY WHITE PEOPLE FEEL THE RULES DO NOT APPLY TO THEM. The rules apply to EVERYONE ELSE. At no time in the HISTORY OF THIS NATION, have White people ever been told no, and they do not like it. They are like two-year-olds that are having a tantrum because their parents put them in time out. It is fine as long as they are the ones setting the rules for Black people and People of Color. They are uncomfortable being told they can’t gather in groups and go where they want to go. They are upset that things have become inaccessible to them. White people can’t stand for someone to tell them what they can and cannot do.

However, White people ARE JUST FINE telling EVERYONE ELSE what they can do just as long as it doesn’t apply to them. White people are fine telling everyone else no, but as soon as they are told no, they must protest. And their signs always have an undercurrent of, “I’m White. It’s my right,” to them. These protests are not about the economy. These protests are simply the way of White America. Historically and currently, White people have always set the boundaries, and now they don’t like being served the same bullshit they have fed everyone else since time was time.

Deal with it!

Perhaps you can sing an old Negro spiritual while you are eating a piping hot plate of crow.

Additional Reading: Do Not Move Off The Sidewalk. Holding Your Space In A White World.