Chose to be born as a 'coloured' person

"The way he died was senseless. He begged for his life. He pleaded for his life. When you try so hard to put faith in this system, a system that you know isn't designed for you, when you constantly seek justice by lawful means and you can't get it, you begin to take the law into your own hands." said Harris, one of Floyd’s closest friend.

After the injustice act towards George Floyd, riots and angry citizens took charge. There was vandalism, tear gas, flash grenades and torching. But what actually caused the riot to happen? According to Professor Hunt, he said that the George Floyd case was not the cause - it's more like the straw that broke the camel's back. You could argue even the police killings are symptoms - the underlying cause is white supremacy, racism, and things the US has not fundamentally dealt with. So the key issue here is the racism and discrimination that hasn’t been dealt with properly. The blacks have been discriminated for a very long time. They are portrayed as bad people and for what, for being black. They are rejected by the community because of their skin colour. And they are also treated differently despite being human, that too because they are black.  All they hope and seek for is an end to it. Is there anything wrong in hoping for a change?

We don’t get to choose the colour of our skin, hair and eye. We are born that way because that’s how the Creator made us. Just because we are born different we mustn’t be treated differently. Be it black, white, yellow or red, we are the same.  We all feel hungry, we all have emotions, we have the same organs and bodily functions, we have the same coloured blood and we breathe the same air. So what is so important about the colour of your skin when the inside of everyone is the same?

I came across a Malaysia public figure who posted on the Instagram story saying:

“To the black people, relax, take it as a challenge, makes you stronger. You chose to be born as a ‘coloured’ person in America for a reason. To learn a certain lesson. Accept it as it is, till now hunger and poverty still exists. It is what it is. It’s inevitable. Best you can do is remain calm, protect heart, don’t allow it to crumble. That’s your responsibility’.

Like really, ‘relax and it is a choice’? What is the challenge in this situation? What are the lessons ought to be learned? What are the choices?  Never in my lifetime have I been given the option to decide the amount of melanin I want for my skin colour and here you state that it is a choice. How is that even logic? Do you make a short note to God before you were born stating your colour and all? Are you saying that it was your choice to be born as a Malaysian? I find it really ridiculous. And there is no lesson to be learned in this situation. And even if there is, I would say that discrimination leads to destruction. Challenges do happen but it also has limits. As mentioned earlier, nobody gets to choose whom they want to be or how they want to be.

Another thing that person said is ‘I don’t live in America, it has nothing to do with me.’ Ok I get it, you’re not living there so you don’t care but why can you afford to care about hunger and poverty? Why care about the amount of inhumanity among people and towards other species? These issues are still happening in other parts of the world isn’t it? I am sure Malaysia is not in the category of ‘hunger and poverty’. Plus, poverty and hunger is not a choice. Some people are born that way. Some countries lack of resources. You still want to address this as ‘choices’? Discrimination and racism, however, is a choice. Nobody teaches you to dislike something or someone. You do it by your own will. It is in your hands to decide what you chose to be and do. Your physical appearance is never a choice but the way you think and act is definitely a choice.

That person also stated that ‘unhealed people always want to heal the world but actually they are the ones who need healing the most, they need the most love, the most attention.’ So you are saying the blacks, those protesting and defending themselves in this issue are classified as ‘unhealed’. Ok, then what about the ones who practice discrimination? What about the ones who murder and torture people of different coloured skin? Are they full of love and affection? I think they are the one who are in need of attention, love and affection. When someone pisses you off and the issue keeps happening all the time, you would eventually burst in anger right? Or are you are going to remain calm and let it slide by saying ‘it is inevitable’? Let’s use some common sense; people are provoked because they are anger. People don’t protest for fun. If those people were treated equally and fairly, they are given love and attention, why would they turn to violence for a solution? The problem is not them but the way they are treated.

There are laws and they help keep the country in an orderly manner. If you act against the law following your own thoughts, obviously it brings a negative impact. If the officer would have listened to Floyd’s plead or investigated him following the procedure, the riots would not have taken place. Not all black people are bad and not all white people are good. There is always a proper to handle things. What the officer did was ruthless. If he seems guilty or suspicious in some way, inquire him and investigate his doing. When there is a law, why not follow it? You as an officer fail to follow certain laws, how do you expect others to follow? Just because you’re in a higher position doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want.

And why is it when black community protest and go all out seems wrong? If the same incident happened to a white person and the doer is a black person, would you still say ‘stay calm and accept your life. It is in inevitable’? I’m pretty sure you would go all out; create a fuss about it and so on. It’s the same isn’t it?

If discrimination is totally demolished, it would not have to be this way. Of course, I am not saying riots and angry mobs are a way to resolve an issue. They react that way because it happened repeatedly and justice isn’t served. Just because you are not facing the same situation, you don’t have to be so negative about it. We don’t know how much the black community has suffered only because of their skin colour.

I do hope that the blacks get the justice they deserve. No more being treated differently, no more separate rules to live by and no more murders. Everyone deserves to live the life they want. No matter what background, culture or religion they are from, everyone deserves to be treated equally and fairly.

By: Abia Iris