I think in music
a lot of the time, so quite instinctively, when we begin discussing non-violent
resistance and quasi-Gandhian tactics for social justice, I always start to think
about Ab-Soul’s “Haile Selassie” or Killer Mike’s “Pressure.” I start to think
about all of these different ways of resistance that are not “accepted” in US
history or in contemporary politics and life. For instance, when we were
writing ways of protestation and resistance on the board the other day, not a
single one specifically dealt with physical violence waged against white
supremacy, capitalism, or those individuals and collectives that uphold racist,
hegemonic, and patriarchal ideologies. Even in class, we filter our thoughts
and our desires. In the back of our minds, we “know” that violence is a “bad”
thing, yet as the philosophers above and countless other anti-racist activists
throughout US history have suggested, violence is always already present (yet
it is white, and we remove the reality from our minds as much as possible (even
if it is only folly)). Whitened violence against people of color, against lower
SES folks, against LGBTQ folks, and against others is always already present….
And though it doesn’t always take the image of flat-out violence (though it has
consistently over the past several hundred years), we ignore the righteous and
even necessary call to arms for revolution, resistance, and protest. Throughout
history, whitenesses along with people of color have shunned the use of
violence for protestation (however ironic that seems). We have limited
ourselves and those resisting on a day-to-day basis. In countless ways, we have
participated in the disillusionment and rejection of righteous, retaliatory
violence. ----- Though there are reasons (and valid ones) why people of color and
other folks have participated in this denunciation of violence, I think we
should reconsider how we talk about violence, and if we should name something
violence, when instead it is actually self-defense.
“No Negro leaders have fought for civil rights
They have begged for civil rights
They have begged the white man for civil rights
They have begged the white man for freedom
And anytime you beg another man to set you free
You will never be free
Freedom is something you have to do for yourselves
And until the American Negro lets the white man know
That we are really really ready and willing to pay the price that is necessary for freedom
Our people will always be walking around and second class citizens or what you call twentieth century slaves
(What price are you talking about sir?)
The price of freedom is death” ---- Malcolm X
They have begged for civil rights
They have begged the white man for civil rights
They have begged the white man for freedom
And anytime you beg another man to set you free
You will never be free
Freedom is something you have to do for yourselves
And until the American Negro lets the white man know
That we are really really ready and willing to pay the price that is necessary for freedom
Our people will always be walking around and second class citizens or what you call twentieth century slaves
(What price are you talking about sir?)
The price of freedom is death” ---- Malcolm X
I really love the distinction you make here. The longer we coin self-defense as simply violence, the longer we can focus on how "violence is wrong," and not actually address oppression, or what that "violence" really is and is in response to. I completely agree with you, in that self-dense is necessary and 100% justified. What else is a group of people to do when they are being attacked, not listened to, silenced and devalued by almost everyone--especially by the people who are supposed to protect them? Are people expected to just remain quiet and complicit as they are continually being oppressed and killed? Rather than just getting upset with "violent protests," people need to start listening to protestors, and act accordingly. If we reframe the current conception of
ReplyDeleteviolence" as self-defense, the important questions will we brought up--self defense from what? From who? Why? What can we do to get to a point where no self-defense is needed? Great blog post!
This post reminds me of the articles we read for class "Why We Won't Wait" and "In Defense of Black Rage." They address the anger and violence that resulted from the killings of innocent black folks. The violence and looting that followed these shootings is often condemned and called out for being unproductive (Cooper 2014). Reacting to injustices with violence, or in this case self-defense, makes it much easier to target the oppressed as the problem rather than addressing the systematic oppression. Still, this rage is completely justified and I agree that depending on if this violence is white or black, from the power or oppressed, changes the narratives constructed about whether certain acts are appropriate and classified as violent or self-defense.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.salon.com/2014/08/12/in_defense_of_black_rage_michael_brown_police_and_the_american_dream/
https://www.counterpunch.org/2014/11/25/why-we-wont-wait/