by Jennifer Roberts

Yesterday morning, I woke up ready to share a video on Instagram about some of my favorite entrepreneurs in celebration of Black Business Month.  I was looking forward to uploading pictures and videos from the commemoration of the Manassas Industrial School founded by Jennie Dean in 1893 and from the Black Business Networking Social Event hosted by Ms. Dawne Horizons.  But my plans were quickly derailed when I picked up my phone and saw the headline, “3 People Dead After Gunman Targeted Black People in Jacksonville, Florida, Officials Say.”  As I read the story that recounted the racist actions of yet another White supremacist who had stolen the lives of innocent Black people I knew that I needed to write.

Saturday, August 26^th commemorated the 66^th anniversary of the historic March on Washington.  On the same day, a 20-something (I’ve heard two different ages) year-old White man attempted to gain access to Edward Waters University, a historically black university in Jacksonville, Florida but was refused access after he refused to identify himself to the security guard on duty.  The man left the campus and went to a nearby Dollar General where he murdered three Black people before committing suicide.  This scene of Black people being murdered by White people is becoming all too frequent and it is deeply disturbing.  What is equally as disturbing as the frequency is the fact that no one is effectively eradicating the root cause:  White supremacy.

Americans are engaged in an exhausting game of “Whack A Mole” in which the symptoms of White supremacy are being treated but the cause is not being called out and cast out.  When a Black person is murdered at the hands of a White person, there is a standard speech that includes language about how America will not tolerate White supremacy.  Yesterday, President Biden’s comments as reported by USA Today were, “Even as we continue searching for answers, we must say clearly and forcefully that White supremacy has no place in America. We must refuse to live in a country where Black families going to the store or Black students going to school live in constant fear of being gunned down because of the color of their skin.  Silence is complicity and we must not remain silent.” 

While I appreciate President Biden’s words, these words don’t keep Black people from being abused and quite frankly, I’m tired of hearing them with no action to support them.  The president’s remarks are reactive.  What we need are proactive measures like executive orders and enforced policies designed to specifically protect Black people in this country and hold perpetrators accountable for breaking the law.  What we need is accurate American History being taught in our schools and in our homes. What we need is the withholding of federal funds to school systems that refuse to teach accurate American History and who weaponize the important work of diversity, equity and inclusion professionals.  What we need are protocols and practices that are enforced that keep Black people alive. What we need are stricter gun laws.  What we need are leaders who prioritize the safety and well-being of Black people over attaining and maintaining a position of power.   

Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, also had comments. According to CNN, he called the gunman a “deranged scumbag” and went on to say, “Perpetrating violence of this kind is unacceptable.  And targeting people due to their race has no place in the state of Florida.  To these useless comments, I respond with a quote from the late James Baldwin, “ I can’t believe what you say, because I watch what you do.”  DeSantis words are empty and meaningless to me because I have watched him continue to pour gasoline on the burning pile of lies that empower racists to commit heinous acts.

Is DeSantis directly responsible for killing three people, “No.”  Is Ron DeSantis guilty of allowing inaccurate Social Studies to be taught, prioritizing the comfort of White people, especially White moms, over the truth of American history, scaring ignorant citizens into believing that Critical Race Theory is a boogieman that is terrorizing children, “Yes.”  Is  DeSantis is dangerous?  “Yes.”  All of these decisions perpetuate White supremacy and empower people like the gunmen to keep abusing and murdering Black people.

Last Friday, I attended a football game at Battlefield High School in Haymarket.  It was the first game of the season and was very well attended.  The game had a theme, “U.S.A.”  Many students wore red, white and blue clothes and accessories.  Some even had red, white and blue body paint.  Amidst the large crowd were at least two students draped in Donald Trump flags and two other students with homemade Donald Trump shirts.  Now, I am a proponent of free speech, and I did not observe the students being reckless but not only is Donald Trump a former president, he also attempted to overturn the 2020 election and incited an insurrection at the United States capitol that took the lives of five Americans and threatened to claim the lives of many more, including his former vice president, Mike Pence and other political leaders.  As if that isn’t enough, Trump was most recently indicted by a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia on 13 counts of criminal felonies. Regardless of your political views, this doesn’t sound like the type of human being whose name you want to have printed on a flag and draped on your body.  If this is the type of person that these young people find worthy of being celebrated, we will continue to perpetuate the cycle of White supremacy instead of cutting off its oxygen.  It is unchecked behavior like what I saw at the football game (amongst other things) that can embolden students and others to test the waters of White supremacy to see just how far they can go.  I have heard stories about Black students at Battlefield being targeted not just by their peers but by the staff members.  Last school year, a student shared with me that she saw a student drawing swastikas while sitting in a science class.   There have even been reports of an American history teacher at Battlefield conducting re-enactments of the Middle Passage with real students and targeting African American students for taking the abhorrent demonstration too seriously and not finding it humorous.  Did Donald Trump directly cause any of this behavior?  “No.”  However, an atmosphere of tolerance has been set at Battlefield High School and other schools which is difficult course to correct.

At the root of this evil is White supremacy which is a demonic spirt that must be cast out.  We cannot see the spirit but we experience its direct effects, ignorance, lies, confusion, strife and greed to name a few. It’s like a gas that that is being inhaled by us all and is attempting to kill us off slowly by murder or through disorientation.  White supremacy is an old demon that has only gotten stronger over time and is especially powerful in certain geographic locations.  Even though thousands of White supremacists have died over many generations, the spirit of White supremacy because it continues to find new hosts in whom to dwell.  The same is true of the spirits of people who have fought against White supremacy.  The spirits of those who fought for justice, equality and equity are also very much alive.  We are part of a real-life battle between good and evil.  On which side will you fight?

(Jennifer Roberts is the founder of Conversations In the Community.)