There was a moment when white Americans felt the dread black Americans live with daily. It happened Dec. 14, 2012, when a shooter entered a Newtown, Conn., elementary school and fatally shot 20 children between the ages of 6 and 7.
The notion of safety was shown to be a fraud. The unfairness and vulnerability were palpable. There was a realization that no one was safe. I heard often, “That could have been my son, my daughter … that could have been me.” Finally, I thought, you understand. Finally you get it. They got a taste, an amuse-bouche, of what it was like to be black in America. They had been niggerized.
Cornel West describes niggerization as “neither simply the dishonoring and devaluing of black people nor solely the economic exploitation and political disenfranchisement of them. It is also the wholesale attempt to … turn potential citizens into intimidated, fearful and helpless subjects.”
Put another way, niggerization is when citizens unaccustomed to living in the state of fear and vulnerability known to black folks have this existential state thrust upon them. It happened after 9/11; it happened after Sandy Hook in Newtown, and it has now happened in the wake of the Dallas shootings. This niggerization is a temporary state because white folks are able to return to their insulated state of privilege shortly after the tragedy has ended.
The country entered an unjust war after 9/11. We prosecute to the fullest extent of the law after mass shootings. A bomb attached to a police robot killed Micah Xavier Johnson, the man authorities say was the lone shooter in Dallas. Those in power get justice. We do not. As the Rev. Michael Pflager pointed out on Facebook:
Trayvon Martin, no conviction. Sandra Bland, no conviction. Sean Bell, no conviction. Eric Garner, no conviction. [Rekia] Boyd, no conviction. Mike Brown, no conviction. Tamir Rice, no conviction.
To be fully niggerized is to be vulnerable with no expectation of justice; to see black life taken unjustly and wait for the acquittal, the apology, and for life to move on. I’m tired of white tears being shed when black life is taken, only for them to dry up as CNN moves on to the next news story.
It happens over and over again. It happened with Trayvon Martin. Then with Eric Garner. It’s now happening with Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. In response to Dallas, many who were deafeningly silent in the wake of black death are now vocal in their calls for peace and understanding. They had nothing to say when black folks were dying, but suddenly they are social activists concerned about justice. Stop it. You’re no ally. You’re no accomplice. You’re no lover of justice. You’re a spectator to black suffering. We are little more than a tragic movie that brings up emotion but fades from mind once you’ve left the theater. While you may empathize with our struggle, make no mistake: You aren’t a part of it. You aren’t mistreated, threatened, accosted, embarrassed, beaten and held against your will because of your skin.
Maybe it’s the church in us, but after tragedies, we are expected to forgive. In fact, many of us feel compelled to forgive. I do not. Not any more. This criminal-justice system is not for us. It has never been. We are foolish to expect justice. If we are lucky, there may be a slap on the wrist, and possibly a public apology. There will definitely be a press conference, and an empathic appeal for peace.
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