Jamar Clark, a 24-year old black man, was arrested and shot by Minneapolis police early Sunday morning. Police had been dispatched to assist paramedics who’d responded to a domestic dispute between Clark and his girlfriend, in which Clark had allegedly assaulted the victim. Clark’s criminal record shows that this was not his first brush with the law; he’d previously been convicted of domestic abuse and armed robbery.
According to multiple eyewitness reports, Clark was unarmed, handcuffed, on the ground, and shot in the head “execution style” by police officers. Minneapolis police have not released official findings, but they’ve stated that their preliminary investigation suggests Clark was not handcuffed at the time of the shooting. Clark was transported to a nearby hospital and, according to his family, was pronounced to be “brain dead.” He was taken off life support and died Monday evening.
Domestic violence is not okay, neither is police brutality. These are not mutually exclusive concepts.
In America, we all have the right to due process. The police who shot Jamar Clark denied him that right. As citizens, we employ police officers to protect and serve our communities; we have a judicial system set up to decide whether suspects are guilty of the crimes for which they are arrested. Police have a job, judges have a job, and jurors have a job. In the case of Jamar Clark (and of so many other unarmed black men who have died at the hands of law enforcement officials), the police overstepped their jurisdiction. Regardless of Clark’s guilt, he did not deserve to die. Regardless of his crime, execution at the hands of police is far beyond the scope of punishment that would have been allotted him, had he been provided the due process to which he was legally entitled.
Systems of racial injustice perpetuate poverty among black families, increase domestic violence, and keep black women disproportionately oppressed. The systemic racism that results in egregious racial disparities in arrests and Minnesota’s huge achievement gap is also keeping black families in poverty.
Black women are disproportionately affected by the economic issues that we take up as women’s rights activists. While white women make an average of 77 cents per dollar earned by a white man, black women only make 64 cents to that dollar. Unemployment rates in Minnesota’s communities of color are significantly higher than among white workers, and one in three Black Minnesotans are underemployed. Men who have experienced unemployment or economic instability are more likely to abuse their female partners. Economic hardship can also make it more difficult for women to escape abusive relationships.
So what does this have to do with us, white feminists? Everything.
As feminists, it’s our job to stand up for all women. Demanding justice for Jamar Clark does not mean we condone violence against women. It means we expect accountability from the law enforcement officers and agencies we employ to protect our communities. It means standing up for black families who, as a result of systemic racism, are kept in a cycle of poverty and violence – a cycle that victimizes black women and children most of all.
Look. I’m a white lady. I don’t have a lived experience of racial oppression. My views come from a place of white privilege. But I am also a person who understands intersectionality and injustice, and here’s what I’ve figured out:
Solidarity is powerful. More bodies mean more power to overturn these systems of oppression. But as white feminists, we need to recognize that this isn’t our fight. As white feminists, we’ve learned and thrived at claiming space and finding ways to be heard. Now, it’s time to hand that space over to those who have been marginalized within our movement and within our communities. Standing up for racial justice right now means showing up, lending your body to a cause, helping the movement take up physical space, but allowing those who have historically been silenced to finally be heard.
bitchycrocker 