What country do you live in? Racism is alive & well in the United States of America. This is a letter I have been meaning to write over the course of the past year while I have been active in the call for social justice. The year has been about the pandemic, addressing racial injustice and the economic gap that is widening in this country. This year has been a reckoning also on the never-ending racism that infects this country that some people just found out still exists. As a black man who has been living in my skin over forty years racism infects like the Covid-19 virus whether overtly or covertly. Whether it’s a co-worker laughingly using the n-word when she forgets you are there in recent years or a co-worker stating if I come to his house to go around the back so his neighbors don’t see. How do you want your bigotry served laughingly in the dark or smiling in the light? Racism is alive and well. You have to pick & choose your battles because there are usually little repercussions for the offending parties. The racial slurs and gestures thrown my way as well as at my fellow peaceful protesters is equally astounding. The arrogance and matter of fact casual racism of some people is blinding. This is why I march. This is why I peacefully protest. This is why I rally. Even when things get back to “normal” I will continue to be involved with the fight for social justice. This country cannot continually say it’s an isolated incident or explain it away anymore. The fight for social justice is here and it is not going away anytime soon. This is not about an election or a political party for me and many others. This is about life. I have been to many rallies & the pain expressed is overwhelming at times because it’s real. It doesn’t matter what your socio-economic status, education or what type of family you come from it affects all black people. There is systemic racism. Fact. This letter could be several pages long on incident after incident. I have always believed in friendships with people regardless of race, creed, color, religion or sexuality. If you treat me with respect I will treat you with respect, but in many cases it’s not reciprocal in this country. I think that some people woke up to the realization that racism in the United States of America is alive & well. It’s alive and well just like Covid-19. It’s there but you can’t always see it and before you know it you are infected & sick. That’s the United States of America I live in and always have lived in. What United States of America do you live in? We have to do a lot better in the future & face our sins of the past. – Mark T. Batiste
