WHY I MARCH

A 21st-century worldwide pandemic isn’t enough to stop systemic racism from rearing its ugly head through our authority figures. While some seem surprised, African Americans around the country are not. It’s 2020, and in the midst of COVID-19, instead of figuring out how we will rebuild our economy after an extended nationwide quarantine, we find ourselves using our newfound free time to fight systemic racism.

If there is anything I wish white people understood about our movement, it is that we are not blaming them for systemic racism. Systemic racism was created long before our current generation, but that doesn’t mean we shoulder no responsibility for reforming our governing bodies to correct the wrongs of the past.

Law enforcement has historically never had a good relationship with people of color. During slavery, law enforcement helped hunt down runaway slaves. When the Ku Klux Klan was created, many law enforcement officers helped community members form the group.

The bold racism of the past has transformed to accommodate changing times and now most often operates in subtle and deniable ways. The system that was once used to hunt us down now harasses and provokes us, looking for any reason to imprison us, and even requiring no justifiable reason to execute us. African Americans have never been safe in a world where this system is used against them.

THIS IS WHY I MARCH.

In understanding systematic racism in the U.S., one of the most important factors to consider is education. Black families in the U.S. are supposed Sawyer is an International Policy and Development master’s degree candidate who will graduate in May 2021. He is the vice president of the Democratic Club of The Monterey Peninsula. Sawyer is a former corrections officer and direct care specialist and is YWCA of Monterey County’s Human Trafficking Coordinator

Children who are black and brown are more likely to be placed in special education programs, given psychotropic medication and diagnoses such as ADHD, and sent to detention or suspended. Black and brown children are more likely to be given low grades, not because of their lack of understanding, but because of the lack of resources such as good teachers and supplies.

Additionally, the history of minority peoples is frequently taught incompletely so that children of all races receive lessons that do not reveal the true suffering of minority populations. This is especially detrimental since education is key to ending systemic racism.

African Americans are numb to social media shootings and the sharing of racism. We have been living in a system of racism our entire lives. We’ve had to fight, and giants in the African American community have died to help us gain basic human rights: to be counted as a whole person, to go to school, and to vote. African American history, slavery, and civil rights are portrayed as if it’s a Disney movie. The blood, torture, and unjust rule of law policies that hindered African Americans and their descendants are often downplayed or missing from historical accounts.

All children should know their African American, Hispanic, and Native American brothers and sisters. This history should be taught by the minorities who come from the ethnic group so that these histories can be honored and understood.

THIS IS WHY I MARCH.

Though African Americans represent only 12 percent of the U.S., we feel compelled to validate the skills, talents, and love we have contributed for generations through great sacrifice as we built this country and our home: the United States of America.

I should not be the first in my African American family to graduate high school and attend college, but I am. As the son of a single mother raised in the south, my future was supposed to be written in poverty. But by the grace of God, I was able to move up, build up, crawling and struggling to the point where I am at now—a former Peace Corps Volunteer, activist, and one year from graduating with my master’s degree.

My path to achieve these successes is rare, but this should not be so. I should not be the exception, but the expectation. I want to see black and brown people able to live comfortably and build wealth, the same as any other person. African Americans want equity plus tax, which offers a clearer path towards rebuilding Black Wall Street.

THIS IS WHY I MARCH.

As an African American who has a criminal justice degree and experience working as a correction officer, I know that law enforcement is trained to kill and fight rather than think critically about the best way to handle situations. African Americans fear calling the police because officers often react in fear based on prejudice and lack of education. Some grab their guns in our presence when having a conversation; others take it even further.

I want law enforcement officers, who are paid $85,000 to $100,000 a year in California, to have at least a criminal justice degree with classes in intercultural studies and psychology. With this, they will have a better understanding of different cultures and how to de-escalate situations. We need community leaders in law enforcement agencies so that officers are led in a way that understands the unique needs of their communities.

George Floyd was murdered by an officer who kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes. Our outdated system has allowed officers and their accomplices to believe they have the authority to kill a man with little repercussion.

Honestly, I am tired. I am tired of marching. My feet ache, my voice hurts, and my body is weary. But if black and brown people do not march, we will continue to die. The school to prison pipeline will be our children’s future.

SO, I MUST MARCH ON.

We march because it is up to us. People give a lot of credit to Martin Luther King Jr., but the reality is that it was the actions taken by thousands to stand up against injustice, no matter the cost, that resulted in change. Today, like back then, there are young leaders who are rising. They are taking the mantle that King and many others left for them. And I am infinitely hopeful because our generation has something King’s generation never had: the help and support of brothers and sisters from all races and walks of life who are recognizing their role in the fight against systemic racism.

I march so that the period of COVID-19 will be known as the time the criminal justice system was forced to reform.

Nathaniel Qushawn Sawyer is an International Policy and Development master’s degree candidate who will graduate in May 2021. He is the vice president of the Democratic Club of The Monterey Peninsula. Sawyer is a former corrections officer and direct care specialist and is YWCA of Monterey County’s Human Trafficking Coordinator specializing in labor trafficking.