Are White People the Gatekeepers of Black Humanity?

Amongst the tears of black mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, and children alike are the passionate chants that "black lives matter" by young men and women trying to change the world. And regrettably accompanying those chants, are the misguided whispers that black lives don't matter because of some irrational relationship to "black-on-black violence."

Let me first, explain my relationship to this conversation. At 19 years old, my older brother's life of promise was ended when he was gunned down by another black man five days before he was scheduled to report to the U.S. Navy. Thus, I know all too well, the pain of losing someone to the epidemic of violence that has affected so many of our families and our communities.

But wait -- before any of you self-proclaimed enlightened individuals shout "black-on-black violence" -- let me make something clear. Unfortunately, my brother was not an anomaly; and that has nothing to do with his race. ALL victims of crime are most often victimized by members of the same race. Contrary to popular belief, black people aren't the only ones killing their own race. The truth is, violence is often committed by those within the victims' social group.

And to dispel another falsity, American social groups are still very segregated. Thus, the logical result is that black people kill black people and white people kill white people. Yet, strangely, white-on-white violence has been left out of the American vocabulary. Black-on-black violence, on the other hand, is almost an inherent part of our every day conversation.

Black-on-black violence is yet another phrase thrown around to perpetuate the stereotypes that black people are somehow uncivilized, threatening, criminals who are undeserving of humanity. Moreover, the phrase has been used to discredit the "black lives matter" movement, with rhetoric that, for all intents and purposes, suggests that white people are the gatekeepers of black humanity. And even more disheartening, this rhetoric has been perpetuated by black people.

Seattle Seahawks superstar, Richard Sherman, held a press conference where he remarked:

"We need to solidify ourselves as people and deal with our issues, because I think as long as we have black-on-black crime and, you know, one black man killing another ... if black lives matter, then it should matter all the time."

Common, who was an integral piece of the Selma soundtrack, explained that showing love to white people could cure racism.

BRUH --- and I say this with the utmost respect and sincerity --- white people are not the gatekeepers of black humanity.

Richard, do you really think the police are shooting unarmed black people because of black-on-black violence? Surely that Stanford education taught you better than that.

And Common, do you think that "showing love" would've kept a bullet out of Tamir Rice's twelve year old body?

And more importantly, are you both really co-signing the argument that black lives don't matter until black on black violence stops; which essentially says that white people are withholding black humanity, and we can't have it until we earn it from them? Are you saying that because my mother endured immeasurable grief as she buried her only son, there is somehow a justifiable reason that Sybrina Fulton and Samaria Rice had to do the same?

Haven't Dr. King, James Baldwin, Mamie Till, Muhammad Ali, and Angela Davis done enough to earn our humanity? And, just for clarity, when did God come down and hand them the keys to the gates of our humanity?

For those who are either completely misguided or are proactively trying to discredit the movement, please rid yourself of the disillusioned mentality that we, black people, must earn our right to be treated as equal citizens in our society. The truth is, no matter how hard we try, we could never do enough to earn our humanity from those who have held it captive.

The only way to take back black humanity is to demand it, hence #BlackLivesMatter.