Sam wrote this article in response to the outrage and anger that is seen around the U.S and the world after the death of George Floyd. This is not the first time this type of incident happened in the past years. We seem to rise up and all the energy seems to fade away in a few weeks with no significant change. I shared my thoughts on how we might be able to look at the issue a bit differently and possibly bring about lasting change in ourselves and in the society around us. Please feel free to share your comments and critique in the comments section below.
This story was originally posted by Sam on Medium.com. Here is that link - https://medium.com/conscious-thinking/what-exactly-are-you-outraged-and-angry-about-c748085d25e9
The death of George Floyd was declared a homicide both by the independent experts hired by George Floyd’s family and County Medical Examiners, after the video emerged of ex-police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck while he uttered his last words — “I can’t breathe.”
The death of George Floyd was declared a homicide both by the independent experts hired by George Floyd’s family and County Medical Examiners, after the video emerged of ex-police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck while he uttered his last words — “I can’t breathe.”
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| Photo by Munshots on Unsplash |
Outrage and anger spewed across the U.S. especially from the African-American community. Some took on to the streets to protest in peace, some took advantage of the situation and looted shops and stores, and some wore masks and pretended to be representatives of the protesters and tried to incite violence and further their own cause. A lot of people expressed their outrage and anger on social media by changing their profile pictures to black or with “Black Lives Matter” banners, sharing heart touching stories of African-Americans who were effected directly by this incident and/or other similar incidents from the past. Many blamed the incident on white privilege and white people’s inability to empathize with current outrage of African-Americans and contributing to systematic racism and injustice. Some even took advantage of the current capitalistic framework to sell products like masks, T-shirts, souvenirs, and other stuff with text and pictures relevant to the current incident.
As I followed this incident and the responses of people around the U.S and the world, a question that confronted me directly was “What exactly are we outraged and angry about?” Are we angry about our feeling of helplessness to stop a life being taken away in front of our eyes? Are we outraged about the economic inequality across the country and feel that looting is justified? Are we scared of the possibility that something similar and unjust might happen to us too if we are not white? Are we outraged that “white people” are not doing enough to stop this and are the reason for this problem? Are we outraged that the current legal system we have is not working for all the people in the society in the same manner? If you ask this question to the people on the streets, their reasons might be all of the above and many more.
We were here before. Not once, but many times and things didn’t seem to have changed much. Lives are being lost in the same way, often. Affected people are protesting the same way with broken hearts. Depending on how much free time one has, people seem to be joining the protests virtually on social media. This goes on for a few days and weeks, and things slow down when the next big thing happens in the world, and we all move on with our lives. So why are things not changing as quickly as many of us would like them to? Why is the conscience of the society not changing so much that these kind of issues are not reducing over years?
I think we can further the cause of reducing injustices like these by approaching the issue differently and responding to it a bit differently. The things I am going to say might outrage some people who are currently frustrated, in pain, and those who are angry with the current situation. But I request you to please take a few minutes and read through my thoughts, if your emotions allow you to.
The biggest issue and root cause of all these problems is our Ego (The identities we are trying to protect)
Let me explain this further. From the time we are born and started to understand the world around us — our parents, our caretakers, and the society around us forced/helped us shape our ego. When I say “ego”, I mean the identities we took on and are spending every living moment of our life protecting them. We were born as humans, then we were told we have a race identity (white, black, asian, brown, etc.,), we were told we have a gender identity (male, female, gender neutral etc.,), we were asked to take on a religious identity, then we were told that we should have more identities by liking and disliking things around us, belong to elite groups in schools and universities, associate ourselves and become fans of sports teams, and we should put a hierarchy around everything around us and give a ranking of what/whom we like most (favourites) and what we dislike (hate) the most. We want to compare and compete with others (and their identities) and we were told and trained to feel good when we win the race over others. Our schools promote this culture, the games we play from childhood promote the race and competition, our work culture promotes this idea, our parents and well wishers give us their undying support to keep on living our identities and create a personal world around us purely in-line with our identities with the hope that it’s the only way for success. We feel successful when we are above others (ahead in the race), either by acquiring more things, money, respect, power, and/or position. We have deep anguish about loosing any one of our identities with the fear of loosing ourselves and not knowing what a world with fewer identities would look like for us.
With so many identities and the current mindset we are trying to live, can there be more than just a few successful people on the top? Won’t all others who are perceived to be losers/less successful have the need to struggle in any way possible to reach to the top, topple the one who is already there, and stay there for as long as they can?
Our reactions to George Floyd’s death showcased the life of sticky identities we all are living with. The most significant identities that are being talked about these days are — Black people (blacklivesmatter), White people (White privilege/White inaction), Police (Police brutality/Police joining protests), Extreme Left (Antifa), Extreme Right (white supremacists), and numerous others. Groups that feel associated with each of these identities are doing everything in their capacity to protect that identity and pin the blame on others.
Let me ask the same question again. What exactly are you outraged and angry about? Would all the people who are protesting take on to the streets if a person was killed by another person of the same group (identity)? Would all the same people stand up to the injustices done to people who do not share their identities? It’s a question to think deeply, are you really outraged about the injustices, or are you selectively outraged to protect the identities that you share with George Floyd or worry that your other identities are at risk?
Can there ever be harmony in the world as long as we are fighting as our “identities”? Definitely not!!
Then what is the way forward?
This question is not an excuse not to go out into the world or on social media to fight the battles of injustices wearing our “identities” as our shields. But when you come home, take also time to evaluate those identities that are causing these issues around the world in the first place. It is easy to blame that others who hold different identities are the issue. For practical purposes, we all need identities in this world to communicate, interact, and exchange almost everything. But I believe that every identity is a problem when it is used beyond its purpose of creating a harmonious world.
Take time and meditate on all your identities — the labels you took on since your childhood, your likes and dislikes, your favourites and hates, and see how many of those are actually contributing to the pain and suffering for yourself and for others? Can you give up some or most of those identities?
The suffering of the society is a collective suffering of individuals. Take time to make yourself a better person (with fewer identities) irrespective of who you surround yourself with.
I am not asking you to stop fighting injustices when you see them. I ask you to stand up to injustice with passion and compassion. But do also take the same amount of time or more time to evaluate your egos (identities) that are the root cause of all the suffering for you and the issues around the world.
RIP George Floyd!
Peace!!
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