Stay Woke Part II: America, You Up Yet?

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Since Dylann Storm Roof’s terrorist attack against nine African American church goers in Charleston, SC, the entire nation is embroiled in debates surrounding the meaning and historical significance of the Confederate flag.  Several national businesses—Amazon, eBay, & Wal-Mart—have pulled all Confederate merchandise.  Governmental leaders are speaking out.  Even friends on Facebook, who had previously been silent about violence against people of color, are taking a stand and denouncing the delusion of those who say the flag represents heritage and not hate.

One question that stands out to me throughout this whole ordeal is, what did these newly enlightened organizations think about the flag Tuesday, June 16th, the day before the massacre?  Did they have any thoughts about it?  Did they know that Tuesday’s Confederate flag held the same meaning as Thursday’s Confederate flag, the flag that people seemingly discovered the morning after we all awoke to the news of what happened at Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church?  Why did it take 9 innocent black lives being murdered for some Americans to wake-up and accept that this flag, which has been around since the 1860s, represents hatred, rape, genocide, violence, murder, enslavement, division, and white superiority, among others?  If someone was previously sleeping on the symbolism of the Confederate flag, what else has that person been ignoring or turning a blind eye?  What other cries for justice has this person not heard? 

Now that some of us are more in-tune to what the flag represents, imagine if Charleston didn’t happen?  That same flag that people are denouncing today, would still be waving menacingly, representing the same harm but going unchallenged by many. 

Dylann Storm Roof’s actions, however, are bigger than the Confederate flag.   Not only do they relate to the historical attacks of his white supremacist ancestors against black people in black churches, but they are also indicative of the systems which #BlackLivesMatter, #Ferguson and #Baltimore are organizing to fight.  It’s all interconnected by systemic racism, oppression, and white supremacy.

America, if you aren’t awake by now, then I don’t know what to tell you.

PS Six black churches have burned in the South since I started writing this post.


Stay woke!
"I am constantly striving to be a better me." After nearly 10 years as a high school English teacher, I left the classroom in hopes of finding a way to have a greater impact in public school education. I earned my doctorate in UNC Chapel Hill's Policy, Leadership, and School Improvement Program. I am a critical race scholar, narrowing in on critical whiteness specifically. I study white children's racial identity construction. I am the co-founder and Lead Curator (executive director) for a nonprofit called WE ARE, which stands for working to extend anti-racist education. We provide anti-racism trainings for children, families, and educators. We use a three-pronged approach to dismantle systemic racism in education and beyond by offering summer camps for kids in rising 1st-5th grade, professional development for educators, and workshops for parents and families. I am a Black woman, motherscholar, and anti-racist activist. As a Christian, I believe I am called to do this work. #disruptivepeace #peacemaker #antiracisteducator

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