Black Lives

BLACK LIVES i My friend bridles. Huh! All lives matter. Is she is being deliberately obtuse? Should I add ‘’too’’ or ‘’do?’’ She adds, I’ve blacks in my family. We had indigenous girls in nursing school. Never treated them any differently. U.S. blacks are lucky not to be back in Africa. I feign agreement. How right you are. African Americans must be grateful, living in that land of the free. I’m sure George Floyd felt overjoyed to have such good fortune. A cop’s knee on his carotid. Hands in pockets. The killer whistling, while his victim choked to death… ii Whites rarely experience racial slurs. Get shot in the back. Suffer unlawful arrest. People of colour endure such abuses every day. US parents drill kids, on strategies to survive. Be invisible. Don’t answer back, even if the cop is wrong. Never argue with a white. Keep car radio down. Blacks are stopped for loud music. Or shot reaching for their license. ‘’Illegal’’ U.S. kids, from babies to teens, are locked in cages. So much for a country founded on immigration. iii Colonial settlers in both countries stole indigenous land. Gifted themselves black house slaves. Cattle-yard slaves. Money never seen. And what sort of men shot innocent blacks after church? Set fire to their circular homes. Poisoned wells. Rigid in the belief of white superiority, they denied tribal links to country. Ignored their knowledge of survival. But sorry began our crucial journey of healing . iiii Don’t close your eyes to acts of violence. Hundreds of Australians and Americans have died in police custody. And - oh yes - they were black. Let’s step forward in unison, kin under the skin. Protect police whistle blowers. Hear them speak the truth. Get rid of crooked cops. Educate and create an honorable force. And, yes: Black lives do matter. Decima Wraxall