What’s next for the black man?

THE EDITOR, Madam:

We have all seen the unfortunate state of the black man in the United States of America (USA) and the uncompromising ways of those who are adamant that they are going to resist the imminent changes which are still latent. The entire world cried foul when George Floyd was killed and celebrated when Derrick Chauvin was convicted.

What’s next for the black man in an aggressive, untamed USA? The elements of evil and barbarism towards the young black men are still at a crescendo, and the way ahead still looks bleak. Now and then, the egregious behaviour of white America lifts its ugly head, to the consternation and disquietude of the oppressed.

From the 1955 bus boycott with Rosa Parkes, when she refused to give up her seat in Montgomery, Alabama, until this psychological moment, we are still in a quagmire as it relates to where we stand in the land of the free. Anyway, are black people free in the land of the free? Are they expected to be treated as equal to the whites, who have benefited from great privileges? Is white privilege a figment of the imagination in the land of the brave? When we ask these salient questions, are we expecting a backlash from even the security forces who are supposed to uphold these great values? At this present moment, we have to bring God into the middle, because we are never sure of our next day on the streets.

The fate of the black man is engulfed in fear and collective resistance to a biased system that undermines them and places them in a state of constant shock and fear. Although I don’t subscribe to open violence, sometimes it takes such by our past stalwarts to achieve the success and subsequent results we so yearned for. Passive resistance is sometimes not the solution to our problems. The civil rights leaders who opted for a more acceptable USA were instrumental in devising an apt system for a black man to become president from such a racist past.

PARIS TAYLOR

paristaylor82@hotmail.com