The white privilege of stealing a Black man's freedom

 SOOOOOOO 'interesting' how we define stealing in this country. 

I'm on a neighborhood internet list and someone posted a video of a young man being apprehended outside of walmart under suspicion of stealing... This person believes that this is the same young man that has been breaking into garages, cars, houses and taking things in her neighborhood. So I had to write the following post.

The walmart video is just heart-breaking: brown and Black people, poor people protecting the wealth of walmart from another Black person.

The 5 white people who own walmart have more wealth than the poorest 40% of this country: that's like over 130 MILLION people - and this young man is most likely one of that 40%.

But walmart is not considered stealing from the 40%. Those five white people will never ever fear incarceration let alone be incarcerated.

But when a young man is reeling from 400 years of oppression, genocide, colonization, when he is facing racism from the time he was a fetus in the womb, when no one will hire him - would any of you have given him a job? - when he was forced to live in substandard housing if he's even housed, forced to witness the obscene wealth flaunted in his face, when he risked taking what he needed from those who are hogging much more than basic necessities but all the junk that is needed to maintain this amerikkkan nitemare lifestyle, THAT is considered 'stealing'.

We have lost our humanity, which is the terrible cost of racism to white people. Did anyone care about who this man is, what his story is, what he needs? Did anyone try to find him, ask how you can help, figure out what was going on with him?

Some of us might have lost some money, a lawnmower, maybe even a car or some other high ticket item - but this young man has lost his freedom to breathe fresh air, to make decisions, to do what he wants. He will be locked up - and many of you are hoping it will be for decades. His human life will be incarcerated and you will have insurance or savings or a salary to replace what was stolen from you, the items, the possessions while you will participate in stealing this man's freedom and quality of life.

And what about the tidal wave impact of his incarceration on his family, his children if he has any, his mother, and his community at large? Let alone when he is released.

Is this a fair exchange? Really, what have you lost? Property. Echoes of the past, and now present, and maybe future. Your property is worth soooooo much more than one human being's life.