An open letter from a Black teen: ‘Do better

by Josiah Davis

I’d Like to Address Three Groups

To all the ACTIVE non-black allies out there, thank you. WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE. I appreciate you so f****** much. Whether you’ve contributed a single post or whether you’ve marched by my side, you are crucial to this movement; you are crucial to the roar of justice; you are crucial to MY safety and MY future as a Black man in America. Thank you. A million times. Thank you.💚✊🏾 WE WILL NOT FORGET WHAT YOU ARE DOING FOR US.

To my non-black friends, sitting on the sidelines, remaining silent, shame on you. WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE. Your apparent indifference to injustice and racism is no better than being a RACIST who praises INJUSTICE. It breaks my heart that you could for years call me a friend, a best friend, or even a brother but then forsake me and EVERY Black person you have EVER come across, by watching this all go by. By failing to check up on or support your black friends in this startling time, you are proving yourselves unreliable. By refraining from speaking out, taking a stand, or using your unique platform to spread resources, you are contributing to an atrocity. We are horribly disappointed with you. WE WILL NOT FORGET WHAT YOU ARE DOING FOR US.

To those of you who have chosen to condemn the riots on your stories before you have condemned the injustice in the murder of George Floyd and the injustice in repeated police brutality on Black lives, you are insidious. WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE. You have chosen to be more outraged over a Target ON FIRE rather than be outraged by the modern day lynchings which mirror a long history of black Americans being beaten, strung up in a noose, and being set ON FIRE themselves. The economy can recover, George Floyd and every other Black life taken at the hand of racist cops can’t. I don’t blame you, I blame the American values we were all brought up on. However, WE WILL NOT FORGET WHAT YOU ARE DOING FOR US.

If what I have said makes you uncomfortable, let me know. I’M NOT MAD AT ANY OF YOU. I’m hurt. I want desperately to connect with you and to share my point of view because if I don’t, at the end of the day, it could very well be my life. I want to let you know how I feel so you can see how crucial this is. I don’t want to hate on you. I don’t want there to be any hate period but your indifference and condemnation to the movement feels a lot like hate whether you know it or not. For my sake, for EVERY Black person’s sake, do better.

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