The signs are clear: Our children’s children will end racism

BY SOUMANOU SALIFOU

According to recent statistics based on interviews conducted by reliable organizations—including the Associated Press—with Americans from all walks of life, anti-black racism has been on the rise since the election of the nation’s first black president. However, the police brutality that has been exposed in broad daylight over the last three years is nothing new. It became more visible thanks to social media; and the traditional media has done its job by relaying it to us, despite the sometimes-gut-wrenching nature of some of the images we have seen on television or in the newspapers and magazines.

We definitely would not have seen the images of Cpl. Eric Casebolt of the McKinney Police Department in Texas throwing a 14-year-old black girl to the ground or chasing other black children at gun point last Friday—apparently sparing the white ones—in an attempt to stop a fight at a pool party. The incident was videotaped and uploaded to YouTube by a white 15-year old teenager, Brandon Brooks, with some comments. It has been viewed 12,241 times at the time of this writing in early Thursday morning.

Later, in an interview with David Mack, a reporter with BuzzFeed news (an online news source), Brooks said: “I think a bunch of white parents were angry that a bunch of black kids who don’t live in the neighborhood were in the pool.” This allegation may have been denied by some of the said parents, but it don’t matter, for, knowing what know, (e.g. the emails that surfaced in Furguson, Missouri, in which white people called black people, including the president, all kinds of horrible things), that is likely. Brooks clearly says in the interview that he felt he was spared because of his race: “Everyone who was getting put on the ground was black, Mexican, Arabic.” He added that the cop “didn’t even look at me. It was kind of like I was invisible.”

I am a law-abiding citizen with my own ugly experience as a victim of racism, but when I saw in the video officer Eric Casebolt not only throwing a 14-year old black girl, Dajerria Becton, on the ground, but also putting his entire weight on the poor, frail little girl by kneeling on her, I was heartbroken and couldn’t help thinking about my own girls. What I could have tried to do, had it been any of my daughters, is way outside the perimeter of the law, and should not be discussed here.

One would have thought, after so many events have recently exposed police brutality aimed especially at black and Latino minorities—even with some drastic actions taken against the indelicate police officers—that the ugly incident of this past Friday in McKinney would not have happened.

The unquestionable stance against racism taken by Brandon Brooks and several other white teenagers spell hope for the future of race relations in our country. This generation, which played a critical role in the election of our first black president, and tolerates homosexuality, doesn’t buy into the bigotry that some members of my generation harbor.

I am also amazed at how our black children, starting with my own who first showed me the trend, are comfortable with people of other races, not showing the caution and reservation characteristic of some black members of my generation. In the recent edition of a popular television program titled “What Would You Do?” an actor faking to discourage a fake white client from buying an outfit on the ground that it was designed for, and best suits black people, was strongly denounced by genuine black clients who had no idea the whole thing was being taped.

Racial prejudice will probably never die completely, but our children are committed to digging its grave anyway.

It may take a couple more generations to get to that beautiful destination, but there is undeniable hope we will get there.

Soumanou Salifou is the founder and publisher of The African magazine.