By Frances Bryce, June 4, 2020 — I have something I want to say about all of the things that are going on that we certainly can’t ignore. That it happened and people are still demonstrating. Sometimes I think I want to talk about people who don’t understand or know about Black culture and what is happening with the Black men in our society. And as a mother of a Black young man when I saw that cop with his knee on his neck, I immediately thought about my son, about my nephews about my husband, and about all of the people.
When the peaceful march started and there was some looting or something and then the emphasis seemed to have shifted to the effect and not the cause of all of this thing. So when you don’t know a culture about a people and you find out they are angry, and also there’s always an element who’s there for the ride, I call it, no matter what you’re doing.
I had the experience when I was working where these two young women, two caucasian women, who whenever there was any unrest, and they came in from the suburbs because it was sort of a thing to do. And I’m sure you’re going to find that element. But that’s not what I want to emphasize in this case. I want to emphasize the pain the race has undergone since slavery and still goes on. I’ll just give one example that hasn’t been that long ago.
My husband was working for General Electric at the time — he was a scientist. They were converting algae to methane gas and then he was going to be interviewed. The person from the news station came in to interview him and then a caucasian man came in right after that. The interviewer interviewed both of them, and the guys sort of responded. My husband had told me about the interview that was going to take place and I was excited to see it. When he came in he said, “The interview I gave is on the floor” and the only thing we saw was him diving off the back of the boat and White guy, who was an employee of my husband, was the person that gave all of the information and was the interviewee. So those are the kind of things that go on.
Some years ago when my husband was at GE in Valley Forge and there was a department store, and we were waiting to be served. And just how you could be ignored. I was there, and maybe three other people were there, all of whom were not Black. And the girl who came up to serve, instead of asking who’s next, she went right over to my White brothers and sisters. And I said, “I was next,” and the White guy waiting apologized. It wasn’t his fault. It was how you automatically discard another person and go for what is comfortable to you.
And I’ll just give you another example of how all these things accumulate over time. This isn’t the worst part. He was never beaten or all that kind of stuff. In a workplace where you are a professional, you should have as much weight as anybody else. He was working then with another company that wanted to do some business with GE and this White guy came up and he wasn’t going to talk to him because he was Black. So GE had to say, if you’re going to business with my company you have to do this business with him. So think about how that affects your mental and ability to be a person and a man in this world. So those are the types of things I wanted to explain.
So, the other part I just thought that maybe if White people who are joined in this demonstration, especially young people, they are always the ones who change things. If they could make an effort to meet a Black person, and even volunteer to do some work in some of the schools that are not served, then they can continue being involved with the people they’re demonstrating with. Those are the things that I thought might be relevant for people who don’t know about the pain and suffering over years of the people who have been stopped by cops when you didn’t have a camera, and they do anything and that was it.
I want the people to keep in mind and think about the cause of why these things happen. See, Black folks already know about White people, but seldom do a lot of White folks have a friend or an acquaintance where they can talk about any issue. Get to know the other people who are in your world.