400 rounds of Monopoly

Bob was mentioning John Oliver and a segment he did on police brutality and how 'defunding' the police is not abolishing it. At the end of that episode, John basically let Kimberly Jones explain to the masses why is it that #BLM and how there's protesters, rioters and looters. And the difference between them. And boy, did I learn some things.

This is a very good explanation of why is it that those people are doing what they are doing. Why protesting and rioting are necessary. And why looting is a thing. The wealthy people feigning outrage because there's looting do not focus on WHY is it that there's looting, they focus on WHAT is going on. And here's where Ms.Jones hits the nail in the head. The systemic racial inequality and the financial gap between poor black people and the rest of the world is so deep and so often disregarded that it has basically reached this point. The inequality that has plagued black people did not start with George Floyd. His death has just been the catalyst for that outrage.

Say what the bigots say, economics was the reason why black people were brought to this country: agriculture in the south and and textiles in the north. Black people were the source of America's wealth. But NOTHING belongs to them. Nothing. So given that we are talking about economics let's use her metaphor and let's say that we start playing Monopoly and for 400 rounds I don't let you have any money, anything on the board. Everything is mine. And then after another fifty rounds of Monopoly everything you earned is taken from you. How would you feel? I got into an argument with someone because I gave him this example. He was offended. White people take this very personally. They don't realize it's not about THEM as a person, it's about black PEOPLE as people and their worth. Or lack thereof.

If you are a black person, you (and your people before you) have had to earn wealth for the people who have not let you play. And then every time they don't like how you're playing because you're getting ahead, they burn your Monopoly money AND the board. And it's back to the beginning of he game. And the people in charge of fixing that problem then comes and kills you. The social contract is broken. There is NO social contract. This woman puts it all so beautifully I could almost scream. And she's right. White people broke the contract and white people are indeed lucky that black people are looking for equality and not revenge.

Don't believe her? Well, here:

Tulsa:


Rosewood:


Oh and in case that's not enough for you, how about a whole thread of black towns and cities that were thriving before 'white anxiety', racism (some instigated by a white woman) and white supremacists would destroy them?

Should I make a thread of historically black towns & cities that were thriving & minding their business before racism & white supremacy destroyed them via white women*, local gov’t/mob violence or complete economic divestment after a “white flight”? pic.twitter.com/oGbfL3VZzm

— RK Jackson | Atlanta 🛸 (@theerkj) June 6, 2020

This thread shook me up so badly that I've decided that one day I will try to make a post dedicated to only these cities, towns and neighborhoods. For real. Next time somebody mentions to me that all fucking lives matter I will slap them and then will recite one by one Ms. Jones' words. Fuck them and their strawman defense.

#BLACKLIVESMATTER

Also, happy Juneteenth. A date that needs to be celebrated.

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Juneteenth! Also known as America’s second independence day, marking the day when all slaves were officially freed. (should be the only independence day imo) This day should be recognized and celebrated as a federal holiday! Sign the petition in my bio to help Opal Lee, a 93 year old resident of Fort Worth, TX, get Juneteenth recognized as a national day of observance. In other words - celebrate this day!! learn about it! discuss it! replace july 4th with it!! This weeks #DesignToDivest design challenge.

A post shared by marissa baca (@marissambaca) on Jun 15, 2020 at 9:03am PDT

#JUNETEENTH