Rage is Often All We Are Left With

Rage is often all we are left with in the face of culture’s demand that civility prevail in a place where anger is bad, angry people are bad, and no one knows what to do to rectify anything. New York Times’ gatekeepers use the word “civility” to hide behind a big paint brush. No anger allowed. I watch my tone. Anger will compel cops to reach for guns. Cops do not listen. They’re not hearing you. We need angry voices, we need a righteousness – look over here, look over there, look under the rug. White people talk about “both” sides.  The police are not a side. They’re the police. They exist to enforce things like get out of your car or we will kill you, don’t run or we will kill you, and don’t look at us with antipathy or we will kill you. Or we might just kill you for nothing. Cops react to people who stare. “Go home or we will kill you, too.” White people fear Black people seeing death. To see a human being tortured and murdered in the street breaks every indifferent covenant we have over what we can control. The result is the breaking point. A community that eats tension like a taut wire. A community in full riot. It doesn’t matter what we want. It only matters what the police want. We can’t challenge laws we make. I will never forget pseudo-soldiers chasing me down an alley with at least a dozen guns aimed at my back. Do not look behind you for clarity. Just run. If they hadn’t missed (I jumped on my dirt bike and got out of there), I’d be dead. Anger is forbidden.