The Chicken & The Egg

I wasn’t sure whether or not I should chime in. In many ways I agreed with them both but it was like they weren’t speaking the same language to each other. Here they were, two young, college educated brothers, so busy trying to one up each other with stats and quick retorts, that they couldn't understand that they were fighting two sides of the same battle. One argued that our priority must be in taking back our communities, addressing black on black crime before we could address police brutality. The other, just as eloquently, argued that we had internalized our oppression and that we must hold officers accountable. Could it be that they both were right?

I guess I don't understand those people who say life is black or white: hot or cold. Life to me has always been shades of gray (no pun intended): a series of compromises, a litany of give and take because no one can live completely in their own utopia. So many people desire to go back and rewrite history to fit their own narrative.

In many ways the history of the 1950’s and 1960s struggle for equal rights is repeating itself today. The Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s was successful in large part because of Dr. King’s patience and virtue; his willingness to turn the other cheek and be inclusive of whites as opposed to harboring anger and locking them out. Others say it was the militancy of the Black Power movement that broke down those doors that whites sought to keep locked and demanded that blacks received equal rights. The truth, to me, has always been in the middle. Dr. King was effective in large part because the white public wanted little to do with the black militant alternative and saw King and his approach as a feasible middle ground. But they wouldn't have been willing to listen to King without the threat of X, the Panthers, SNCC (after Stokely Carmichael took power), Dr. Angela Davis and other black power voices demanding change in whatever manner was necessary. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the movement was successful because of militants exclusively either. An entirely militant approach would have most certainly have meant a race war, one in which Black people who made up between 10-15% of the population, would have surely lost. It was King’s dedication to a peaceful reasonable solution and inclusion of white allies that allowed the militants to be able make those demands in the late 1960s. One side of the movement could not have worked without the other side. And yet people still today debate about who was more influential, X or King. It has and always will be a silly debate because they were two sides to the same coin.

           The same holds true today. Those young brothers, so bent on being right, couldn't even see that they were arguing from two sides of the same coin. Yes, black on black crime is a major issue that needs to be addressed from within the black community. We have perpetuated a culture of silence and fear of repercussions for far too long. We must protect each other and build family communities again, instead of ones run by young men and women who only look out for themselves and have no regard for the lives of others. But that doesn't mean that we have to wait and fix that before we can address the increase of police brutality on unarmed black men. Those who take an oath to serve and protect our communities must be held to a higher standard than ordinary citizens and must let the courts dole out justice to those who break the law as opposed to playing judge, jury and far too frequently recently: executioner.  This is not a chicken or an egg debate. We don’t have to choose one fight over the other. We have enough people who are motivated, educated, politically connected and fed up to address both issues at once; not one before the other. 

I know I could never be a political leader because I’m not head strong enough. Even as a teacher I am sometimes corrected by my students because they sometimes make valid arguments that I’ve failed to see.  While I am confident in most aspects of my life, I was blessed to not have an ego that was so big that I can’t even listen to others' point of view. With a family of six, coaching two sports, a full time career and pursing a doctoral degree I don't have the time I’d like to have to march the streets and protest or rally in front of City Hall and demand answers. I sometimes feel guilty about this: that I am not doing enough of my part. But I am reminded of the lyrics of the John Legend/Common song “Glory”. In it, Common raps: “It takes the wisdom of the elders and the young people’s energy”. Not everyone can be Dr. King or Brother X and that’s okay. Behind those two stood the speechwriters, pamphlet makers, donation gatherers, security staff and other everyday people who contributed in their own way to make change. Maybe instead of fighting so hard to just be right, if we took that same energy and joined forces to combat all sides of the issues we face today, we could see that we were really arguing for the same results, just in different ways.