In the wake of 9/11, this catch phrase has reminded us that we can all play a role in keeping our country safe. “See something, say something” tells us that we are a community whose safety is the responsibility of everyone.
By the grace of God and the vigilance of our government and fellow citizens, our country has been spared the kind of terrorist attack that took place on 9/11.
As we enter Black History month, “see something, say something” may be an excellent way for us all to contribute to the eradication of racism in our community, our state, our nation and the world.
This all depends on whether we see racism as a problem for Black and brown people or a problem for our populations, as a whole.
If a gifted Black child who has the capacity to become the next Albert Einstein is a victim of systemic racism and never allowed to realize the full potential of his or her gifts, our community suffers because of the loss of what could have been.
Black and brown people may be the victims of racism; systemic racism, however, really affects everyone. We are all diminished by the pernicious evil of racism that has plagued our nation.
When United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announced his intention to leave the Court at the end of this year’s session, President Biden immediately indicated that he would appoint a qualified Black woman to the nation’s highest court.
The backlash was almost instantaneous. One U.S. senator called this a quota system; another opined that the soon-to-be named candidate would be a beneficiary of affirmative action and, most outrageous of all, was the comment that Biden would be discriminating against every lawyer in the country who is not a Black woman.
When President Ronald Reagan did exactly the same thing in announcing that “his next appointee to the Court” would be a woman, everyone thought this was a good idea. The double standard being employed here would be laughable if it did not have such patently racist animus behind it.
Former Miami Dolphin coach Brian Flores is suing the National Football League (NFL), the New York Giants, the Denver Broncos and the Miami Dolphins, alleging that he has been the victim of unjust discrimination because of the color of his skin.
His 58-page lawsuit may take forever to make its way through the courts and has likely guaranteed that he will never again coach in the NFL. Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick protested racial inequality in 2016 by kneeling during the national anthem.
His football talents have gone unused ever since. What Flores and Kaepernick have in common, besides unemployment, is a desire to raise the consciousness of our nation to the persistent presence of systemic racism.
Most people in our nation are not racists. Thankfully, we have come a long way since the Jim Crow era when Black men were lynched for being Black and segregation was enshrined in law. We have a very long way to go, however, if we are ever going to be the kind of beloved community that was the aspiration of Dr. Martin Luther King.
Today, it is no longer sufficient to cleanse our own souls of racist thoughts. Systemic racism is so much larger than individual racist behavior. It is apparent in the upper echelons of the NFL and behind attempts to make it more difficult for Black and brown people to vote.
It exists quite blatantly in senators’ comments about President Biden’s intention to appoint a Black woman to the Supreme Court and in the many school systems banning books by Black authors that describe the cruelty of slavery in our nation’s history.
It is everywhere apparent in the voluminous statistics about poverty, health and wealth among the Black and brown citizens of our nation. And the list goes on and on.
“See something, say something” means that we are all responsible for creating a more inclusive, egalitarian community in which the insidious impact of systemic racism is clearly understood.
For those of us who enjoy white privilege, the challenge is to imagine what we would see around us if we were Black. When the implications of white privilege are understood in this way, systemic racism comes clearly into focus.
Not only does white privilege cast racism into bold relief, it propels the adoption of anti-racist thinking and behavior. The old adage about identifying a duck by the way it walks and talks is true when applied to racism. Anti-racism is the medicine that our country needs now more than ever.
Happy Black History month!
Msgr. Paul Garrity is a senior priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and former pastor at St. Mary’s Church in Lynn.