Speaking Out While Being Black

Recently, I came across a situation that I found to be very interesting and a direct representation of how African-Americans are treated in this country when we speak out. A few weeks after the Neo-Nazi rallies in Charlottesville, NC (and after Trump’s comments were made about the Nazi’s being “very fine people”) Miss Texas spoke out against Trump during the Miss America pageant. “I think that the white supremacist issue, it was very obvious that it was a terrorist attack," Miss Texas stated passionately. "And I think that President Donald Trump should have made a statement earlier addressing the fact, and making sure all Americans feel safe in this country. That is the number one issue right now." Miss Texas (Margana Wood) received mostly positive responses from the court of public opinion. While this was happening on my social media, I didn’t really see anyone speak negatively about the comments that she made. She clearly gave Trump a critique on how badly he handled the Charlottesville situation, and she received little to no backlash.

Now, earlier this month, ESPN Sports Correspondent Jemele Hill, a young, black, successful woman, spoke out against Trump on her twitter. She tweeted “Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.” After Hill tweeted that out, she received immediate backlash. So much so to the point where Trump called for her to get fired and ESPN was going to do it—however, the couldn’t convince her fellow black co-workers to take her position. Jemele was slammed on multiple social media platforms and news outlets, and this story is still being developed to this day. It’s amazing to me how Jemele Hill and Margana Wood both spoke out against Trump on similar issues, and yet Jemele was the one that was punished for it. This situation speaks to how we as African-Americans are viewed in this country. There has always been an issue of racism and discrimination in the U.S. and yet we are supposed to just accept things as they are and we apparently cannot even have an opinion on the matter. You can see a prime example of this with the kneeling at sporting events right now. Many people just want "their boys" to play ball and nothing else. Anything outside of what people expect you to do is problematic; especially if you're speaking in favor of social equality and justice. It is so unfortunate that we as African-Americans have to censor ourselves when it comes to us being treated as equals, or, if we don't, we may run the risk of having some consequences or repercussion. I applaud both of these women for using their platform to speak out against the social injustices and the racist behavior our president has been exhibiting since he took office. However, it is very disheartening to see Jemele being treated the way she is and I can only hope that she stays strong during what must be a difficult time for her.

#David