We Can't Breathe

by Kaela Anderson

Image Courtesy of Kaela Anderson

In March of 2020, we watched as the United States entered a seemingly endless pandemic. A pandemic caused by a respiratory illness that stops at nothing, and for no one, regardless of their creed or color. 

We watched as guidelines and restrictions were put in place to stop the spread. We watched as businesses closed, as citizens lost their jobs, their families, their friends. We watched as communities got destroyed by natural disasters. And then we watched as neighborhoods were raided and targeted for grieving their losses. We watched as white people crowded the Chelsea Piers in NYC to enjoy an afternoon picnic with friends, as lower-income Black communities throughout the five boroughs were terrorized by police for mourning the deaths of family members due to COVID-19. 

Image Courtesy of Kaela Anderson

As chaos began to spread rampantly in New York City and throughout the rest of our nation, we watched as Black communities got hit the hardest time and time again — not only by the pandemic, but by police batons and bullets. We watched the killings of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. We listened to George Floyd repeat the words we’ve unfortunately heard many times before — I can’t breathe — before his lungs could no longer fight for his life. 

Do you see the commonalities of those largely affected by the pandemic? Do you see that the common thread is people of color — more specifically, Black people? Understand that America has once again proven it is not an ally to the people who built this stolen nation. Instead of standing up for its people, America kneels on their necks until they no longer have a say.  

Today is June 19th, officially known as Juneteenth — a holiday that marks the freedom of Black people in the United States of America. On this day in 1865, the last groupings of slaves were emancipated, setting free all Black people from the American confederacy. Black people have since celebrated this day of freedom for the past 155 years. 155 years isn’t even half of the amount of time they were chained and whipped and lynched by their white counterparts. Yet still, we celebrate because at least it’s not illegal for us to be in the same room as a white person...right? 

But truly, what are we celebrating? Is it the fact that African Americans are incarcerated at five times the rate of white people? Or the fact that African American children make up 32% of children who are arrested, 42% of children who are detained, and 52% of children whose cases are waived to criminal court? 

We were set up to fail. From the day we were unchained, and set free into a world that was taught to hate us based on the color of our skin and not the content of our character, we have been oppressed. Through red-lining and unequal access to education, to discrimination in the workplace and wage gaps, America has time and time again made a clear statement as to where it stands when it comes to basic human rights for its people. 

One day of celebration and acknowledgment out of the 365 exhaustingly and inherently racist days of the year does not make up for the centuries of oppression we have faced, nor does it make up for the tiring years that followed our captivity. It does not excuse white people from their actions. Or the American government from its oppression. Nor does it excuse the overtly racist foundation that this country still sits on. On Juneteenth we acknowledge that we have been oppressed, that we continue to be oppressed, and that we are undervalued and underrepresented in most walks of life. 

Image Courtesy of Kaela Anderson

So why do we still celebrate Juneteenth amongst all the evil that this country continues to cast upon us?

Juneteenth is a day where we can shout from the mountaintops about the pride we have to be Black in America. It’s a day where we can look racism in the eyes and tell it we’re not going anywhere — that we’re here to keep fighting for our freedom. We celebrate with soul food and blues music, with our family and friends, through laughter and love, because we know we got each other’s backs. We celebrate our culture and how far we’ve come as a community. We lift one another up, empowering our Black kings and queens. We are proud to be Black, and we are proud to stand in the face of injustice and not be afraid to demand justice. 

But on this Juneteenth, and everyday after it, we demand that you fight for us and with us — for however long it takes. We are no longer asking. After all, must we ask for basic human rights? 

We demand that you fight for our freedom the way you fight to go on a picnic at the Chelsea Piers. We demand that you stand with us because our lives are not guaranteed. We demand that you kneel with us because history has shown that our lives can be taken from us with one shot, or the entire clip — no questions asked. 

We cannot celebrate freedom until we are all free. 

In loving memory of those who have lost their lives to police brutality and the criminal justice system, may you rest in power.

George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Trayvon Martin, Kalief Browder, Laquan McDonald, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Botham Jean, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, Yvette Smith, Alton Sterling, David McAtee, Walter Scott, Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Stephon Clark, Martin Luther King, Jr., Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, Emmett Till, Rodney King, The Unnamed