White Privilege, COVID-19, and the End of Capitalism
The tip of the iceberg - that is what we are seeing in the massive, global outpouring of anger against police brutality and the horrible death of George Floyd. Yet these acts of violence happen daily. The police brutality against the black community is a nightmare that never ends. So why, after so many years of standstill, are we only now witnessing the nationwide (now global) mobilization of the masses? The answer is complicated, yet the cause is simple: the racist and capitalist response to COVID-19.
Privilege and responsibility
WARNING: Before I delve any deeper, I first want to say that I am writing from the perspective of a white gender-expansive person. I thus acknowledge my privileged position, the privilege written in the color of my skin and heritage of my ancestors. It isn’t my intention to take the mic away from communities of color. Rather, I am reaching out specifically to WHITE communities throughout the land that was stolen from indigenous nations, the land that many call the United States of America. I am speaking to the WHITE community that has turned a blind eye on systematic violence for centuries. I am appealing to those of us who were, and in many cases still are, complicit with a racist economic system.
“Millions of masked people who have been locked up in their houses, divided and jobless, realized that they themselves couldn’t breathe. The current economic system has suffocated an entire nation.”
This racist and classist system came into stark relief during the current pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis allows the ultrarich to become wealthier and expands the economic wealth gap that was already strangling the country. Millions of people have suddenly found themselves without a job and a purpose in life, battling to sustain a lifestyle that was already accelerating the climate crisis. This economic predicament isn’t sustainable on so many levels, and it only added fuel to a fire that was already simmering under the surface and has now, with the barbaric death of George Floyd, enveloped a nation. As Cornel West so aptly said, “the rule of big money, class and gender hierarchies and global militarism” is all unmasked in the anger against anti-black police murder and brutality.
Economic suffocation
So here we go. After two months of lockdown, a man gets suffocated to death, and the video of his murder goes viral. Like Eric Garner before him, George Floyd yelled, “I can’t breathe!” An entire country recognized itself in the dying, pleading man. Millions of masked people who have been locked up in their houses, divided and jobless, realized that they themselves couldn’t breathe. The current economic system has suffocated an entire nation. From the people who work paycheck to paycheck, to the college grads who see their degrees (for which they are swimming in debt) become meaningless, COVID-19 has only exacerbated the injustices already embedded in capitalism. Then there are the communities for which this crisis is old news: the communities of color that have been under the knee of this racist hegemony for centuries.
“Our rage and reform can’t be pointed solely at the police. Yes, if it is the police we want to defund and demilitarize, we need to block police stations and expose them for who they are, for what they have been built for. Yet we also need to tackle the heart of the issue: an economic system that is sustained through our privilege.”
Finally, the ticking time bomb exploded. Years of frustration erupted against a broken system. In the last few years, the cracks that sustain the American empire have only become wider. The invisible people that labored and toiled to sustain this violent pyramid have had enough. People are fighting against a militarized State, a militarized country that invested in its army and not in the welfare of its people. People are down in the streets, protesting and facing the hard reality of their privilege, in the case of white folks, and of their nightmare in the case of the black communities.
Breaking the media bubble - and the white one
It is incredible and heartwarming to see people standing up for themselves and one another in a chain of support and rebellion that can lead to constructive change. Yet there is a danger. As in the case of COVID-19, the corporate media have focused their attention only on the riots and the police brutality. This unidirectional and forgetful media bubble has more than once destroyed movements and halted the momentum toward deep, structural change.
If the solidarity of white communities is only written in posts and tweets, held up on a banner in the streets, then our presence will be counterproductive. We need to be smart and methodical about what we want to achieve and what we want to do next. Protests on the streets and marches are one thing, but it is our responsibility to directly face the structural fissures that lie at the foundation of this uprising. In other words, we need to look at ourselves in the mirror.
“It is thus the responsibility of the white community to mobilize to end this unjust system.”
Our rage and reform can’t be pointed solely at the police. Yes, if it is the police we want to defund and demilitarize, we need to block police stations and expose them for who they are, for what they have been built for. Yet we also need to tackle the heart of the issue: an economic system that is sustained through our privilege. It is for this reason that we must confront the visible violence of the institution by dismantling the violence that often goes unseen. This means focusing squarely on the racist capitalist system that we contribute to with every online purchase - an economic system that was created, and is still sustained, by the slavery of communities of color.
Beyond capitalism
It is thus the responsibility of the white community to mobilize to end this unjust system. If we want people to have better wages and stop the exploitation of the service workers (a system grounded in rampant racism and sexism), we need to confront the big corporations and force supermarkets and other corporate services to close. We need to stand with the small farmers of color throughout the world, to resist the giants who are destroying the land and environment. Most importantly, we must divest our time and energy from an economy that is fueled by our privilege and strive to create a viable alternative.
The problems are huge and dramatic, but we now finally have the impetus to do something about it. George Floyd’s murder was horrific, and his murderers are criminals. Their wrongdoing has lit the flame that threatens to topple the corrupt systems of oppression. It is a flame for change, and for a world where everyone has the right to live free, have free education, free healthcare, and be safe from violent institutions of control. The world we must create is a world where not only the 1%, mostly white he/him men, own the wealth of the planet.
You can learn more about Blake’s work at https://blakelavia.com/.
Banner image: Oakland First Friday Protest via Thomas Hawk.