Protests in New York through the eyes of an immigrant from Belarus living in the city

Today, protesters against police violence and racism are predominantly young white Americans. But those who have come across it are best told about racism. Belarusian Alisa Ksenevich, who has been living in New York for many years, told the stories of three acquaintances. These people know firsthand about racism, some have learned what it is from the playground. This publication writes TUT.BY.

Stocks of disobedience across america

Protests in the United States, provoked by the death of George Floyd, began in late May in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and spread to several other US states. Initially, peaceful protests against police violence and racism escalated into riots, which affected many people - both protesters and police.

New York also swept a wave of riots and mass protests. This city saw everything - and arson of cars, and looting, and pogroms. Enter curfew here later.

To better understand what triggered the mass uprisings, we propose to turn to statistics. So, in 2015-2019, 352 unarmed people were killed by police. 30,1% of them were black (although they make up only 13% of the US population), whites were only 7,3% of those killed.

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After each case of detention, if the video hits the Web, protests and scandals flare up. Often, only because of the close attention of the public to police officers who have exceeded their authority, criminal cases are opened.

Who takes part in the protests

To get a better idea of ​​what is happening, we suggest going to one of the mass protests in Brooklyn. Here in the park at the appointed hour a group of Brooklyn hipsters gathers. “Someone is praying, someone is meditating, someone is kneeling ... They all look 20–27 years old, whites dominate. In the hands of young people are cardboard boxes with slogans. Moreover, the most radical slogans like “Eliminate the police! Eliminate Prisons! ”,“ Death to Blue Lives! ” (“blue lives” means policemen) are holding slender, fashionable white girls in tattoos, Alice commented. “I wonder what kind of racism and police brutality they faced in life?”

Then the speakers begin to speak. Their demands are to restore justice in relation to George Floyd and other victims of police arbitrariness, dismiss the mayor, cut police funding and redirect this money to the development of parks, libraries and social programs. “Fewer cops!” More teachers! ” - the crowd is chanting.

One participant, “a charismatic black guy in a blue tunic that looks like a Chinese god,” says he planned to stay at home until the pandemic ends. But now I have to be here. “Because we cannot be silent! Curfew (then it has not yet been canceled. - Ed.) - it is a trap! To the brothers from Bedstay and Bushwick (remote areas of Brooklyn. - Ed.) could not join us! ”

After the performance, the crowd sets off on a march along the city streets. “When we pass the police station, someone shouts:“ F ... k the police! ” But the crowd does not pick up the slogan. The reputation of the Black Lives Matter movement is already undermined by vandalism and robberies, the Belarusian said. - Currently, the protests are exclusively peaceful in nature. The police are calmly watching what is happening, they are not arresting anyone. ”

Many citizens support the protesters: car drivers with approving smiles and horn signals; the inhabitants of the houses are ringing the scoops in the pots.

Volunteers are also present at the events. They distribute masks, water bottles, granola bars, fruits.

“In the area where Orthodox Jews live, large families led by fathers of families line up on the sidelines to look at the procession. The mood of all elated. No aggression. In the same way - with smiles, bananas and applause - the city met the runners during the marathon, ”the author says.

It is worth noting that a whole generation of Americans has grown up in the states with a sincere sense of guilt for being white. They blame themselves for the fact that everything is easier for them than for dark-skinned people. “Hence the action, when the white population of the cities washes the feet of black neighbors, kneels in front of them,” the author explains. “Recently, HBO removed the film Gone With the Wind from its streaming service due to complaints about the“ romanticization ”of slavery and oppression of blacks.”

“I believe that no one deserves a violent death, and I support protests against racism and police arbitrariness (if these protests are not accompanied by the arbitrariness of vandals and marauders),” the Belarusian said. - But once, in a conversation with a friend, a white American, I express my bewilderment: Floyd is buried in a golden coffin (before him this honor was awarded only to Michael Jackson and James Brown), the Mayor of Minneapolis is sobbing over this coffin. It turns out that the person who participated in robberies and put a gun to the belly of a pregnant woman is almost canonized. "

In response, her friend dropped his eyes and said: “It's a little rasist of you to say that”. Say, Floyd answered for his crimes, his personality and past do not justify the brutality of the police, he served in prison, took the path of reform, went to church. And whoever remembers the old will be out of sight, ”comments Alisa Ksenevich.

And he adds that "getting into racists is now easier than ever." For example, the editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper resigned after publishing an article entitled “Buildings are also important” (reference to the slogan “Black lives are important”). The text was devoted to looting and pogroms amid protests. But the headline was deemed "deeply offensive."

The next day, the editor of The New York Times resigned. This happened after the publication was criticized for "controversial coverage of protests."

It seems that the theme of racism today permeates all areas. Our heroine's employer sent all employees a letter informing them about the donation of 10% of the company's profits over the last week to an organization that defends the rights of blacks. “They also sent us a long list of books, articles and podcasts on racism, 'to be the best ally of the black community.' Titles include Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, How to Be Anti-racist, Anti-racism for White People, 75 Things White People Can Do for Anti-racism, and so on, she comments.

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A New Yorker also said that she received a letter from an Ethiopian restaurant, where she sometimes orders takeaway food. “The restaurant owners wrote an emotional letter stating that George Floyd died“ like a zebra in the jaws of a lion ”and“ it was a “video of execution”. Here are a few quotes from that letter: “there is no turning back”, “we feel anger, sadness and emotional devastation ... It seems that only a psychologist can help”, “Not all owners of our restaurant are black. We decided, just in case, to clarify this, because for some it will matter. ”

The heroine of this story herself is white, and lived "26 years in a country with a homogeneous population." Therefore, she suggested that those who are directly confronted with racism find out what they think about this. Here are their stories.

First story: “Do you carry hand grenades with you?”

51-year-old computer programmer Dario Vincent grew up in Haiti, which is dominated by black people. “There are many shades of racism where people with lighter skin tones discriminate against those who are a couple of shades darker,” he said. - For example, in Haiti there are a large number of terms for dark-skinned people with lighter skin: mulâtre, grimmaud, marabout and so on ... On the island I enjoyed the privileges of "black with lighter skin", but when I emigrated to the United States, I lost them ".

Dario says that he did not meet black people who would not experience any form of racism. He cannot remember a time when he himself would not encounter racism. “You ask, did I come across racism? I would like to answer: was there a time when I did not feel his pressure? "Racism is always present, so you need to constantly adapt, strengthen your vigilance in order to anticipate dangerous situations."

He also told several stories about the police that affected him personally. One of them happened in 1989, when a guy was driving on a freeway in New Jersey. “I was stopped by a police patrol. The first thing the officer told me was: do you carry hand grenades with you? And that was long before the terrorist attacks, ”explained Dario.

While driving, he often spots a police car following him. “Around every careful turn, no matter how slow I drove ... Then I was predictably stopped under some far-fetched pretext, for example, that the license plate did not match the description of the car. When it turned out that everything was fine, I was allowed to continue driving, ”he commented.

Here's another example: During an interview with an employer, he was asked if he could actually do his job. “Caribbean natives have a reputation for being lazy, sleeping under a palm tree all day,” he says.

Some manifestations of racism, he said, are well-veiled. “The best example is online dating. Usually it sounds like this: "I'm not a racist, I have black friends, I just prefer to meet someone who looks like me, this is my preference."

Dario Vincent would like to believe that the current protests will change the situation for the better, but he does not know if this will happen. He says that he has already witnessed such riots. “As soon as the dust settles, the people in power will offer us some sacrificial lambs and continue to throw sand in our eyes. We will find ourselves at the same fork in the same road, ”he is convinced.

Dario admits that he has only faced moderate racism compared to what others experience. “I belong to a certain social class and am endowed with a certain level of education, among other qualities that protect me from the most brutal manifestations of racism,” he says. - By the way, when I was in Minsk as a tourist, I did not experience any racism. On the contrary, all the Belarusians I met wanted to know what brought me to their city. "

Second story: racism in the playground

30-year-old rock musician Zachary Belwood brought up a white couple. They adopted the boy 7 months old. The city in which he grew up was inhabited mainly by whites.

“The first time I encountered racism on the playground was when one of the kids called me 'nigga'. I did not know the meaning of this word and asked my parents. They said, "Don't let this word define who you are." I learned the nature of racism through life experience. Unfortunately, there were so many cases that it makes no sense to bring them all, ”he recalls.

Later, when he became an adult, Zakhari learned what police arbitrariness combined with racism is. The first time it happened was when he broke the law: got behind the wheel in a state of alcoholic intoxication. “I was stopped by a police patrol. Panicking, I jumped out of the car and started to run away. I had no prohibited substances with me; when they grabbed me, I did not resist. The police handcuffed me and then started beating me. There were five or six of them, - Zachary recalls. “One of them tried so hard that he broke his finger. Beaten, I was taken to the hospital, and when I recovered from my injuries, I was sentenced to six months in prison on charges of assaulting six police officers. I was 19 years old. "

Today the rock musician is actively involved in protests. Since there are only two options, he believes: "to become a victim, or to solve the problem." “Yes, sometimes you need to destroy something, set something on fire. You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. I am against harming small businesses, family restaurants, pharmacies, music stores ... But as for corporations, they steal from us through taxes, excessive privatization. I don’t feel sorry for them. I will resist them. Passivity will lead to even greater racism, ”the musician is sure.

Third story: “Even black classmates were poisoning at school”

Sarai Clemente, 30, is a psychologist whose family immigrated to the states from Bangladesh when she was 11 years old. There they had a big house, a servant. “Parents worked in public service. Dad is in the Department of Agriculture, Mom is in the medical field. In the United States, parents had to start over. They managed to buy a house, give me and my sister a good education. But for this they had to work not by vocation: dad - in the postal service, mom - as a salesman in the haberdashery department of a department store, ”she said.

Today, Saray recalls that even black classmates poisoned her at school. “Black children made up the majority of students, and people with my skin color and ethnicity are a minority. So in life - the more representatives a group has, the more power it has. My classmates discussed me in Spanish, thinking that I do not understand them, they called them Hindu, Hindi, although I am from Bangladesh and a Muslim by religion. No one directly pointed to the color of my skin, but I felt that the reason was this, ”Clemente shares.

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When she got older, she realized that racism deals more with physical beauty and social class than with skin color. “By the time I graduated from college, I changed my style, learned how to care for myself, began to present myself in a different way, and suddenly I started to like everyone. I can’t recall a single case of racism after 20 years. Was this the result of an external transformation or the fact that I surrounded myself with more mature people? I married a white American who loves me for who I am and accepts me as mine. As a teenager, I could not even imagine that this was possible! ” - admitted Clemente.