The other night I was scrolling down my newsfeed on Facebook looking for some good reads when I came across some white kid I used to go to school sharing his opinion on the Confederate flag. An automatic red flag shot up — what is this boy about to say? It better not be racist. It turns out the status wasn’t bad, but some of the comments were disturbing.

I’ll just cut the story short and jump to what really ticked me off. One individual said that the “government is trying to ban things that can be freely expressed.” In response, another old schoolmate said this.

“It’s not our government doing that, it’s easily offended people who 1. Need to do something productive with their lives rather [than] be[ing] professional victims, 2. They are pressuring their elected officials to do that . . . I’m offended a lot but I don’t speak out.”

Of course, this was a trigger for me and I told it to him straight like I was trained to do. I spoke out about how the Confederate flag was considered hate speech because it offended and intimidated a marginalized and frequently discriminated-against group. And I said that his language was a form of racism because it belittled the problems of a marginalized group. But even though I came forth with a strong argument, I still couldn’t get over it. For hours and hours the phrase “professional victim” lingered in my mind and I couldn’t get it out. I wanted to say so much more to my old schoolmate who had made that comment, but also to those who think the same way he does.

So here I would like to address this boy and all of those who think of black people as professional victims who “need to do something productive with their lives.”

Hello racist bigot,

You are right. I can stand here and tell you that your statements are proof that racism still exists in our country. That your words only oppress me and my people because you choose to turn the shoulder when it is time to look racism in the eyes. And that your words perpetuate the idea that black lives do not matter in our society. But I won’t because you are right. I am a professional victim. We all are, us black folk.  

From an early age, we’ve been raised to believe that we are not good enough.Our children suffer from higher rates of depression than their white counterparts. That the police aren’t our friends, but our enemies. That the law is never really on our side.

Our daughters suffer from self-esteem issues because society tells them they are not as smart or beautiful as their white peers. We tell our sons that one day they could be shot for being black. We learn about institutionalized racism and microaggressions the hard way and are told to keep our problems to ourselves. We are told that racism is a thing of the past. 

And yet, our schools are more segregated than they were in the 1950s. Every day we see another story about our brothers and sisters being killed by those meant to protect us. Our fathers and brothers are taken by the system more frequently than yours for the same crimes. And we have our churches burned down and our people shot by white supremacists as if we are still living in the 1960s. 

We are born and raised in a nation of inequality and oppression. We are born to be victims of racism. It is all that we know of. 

So yes, world. We are professional victims. We are highly qualified and ready for the job. And as a professional victim myself, I am well-educated on the issues. I proudly proclaim “Black Lives Matter” and will educate anyone who will listen on race. And I very well plan on becoming a Civil Rights lawyer so I can support my people and bring forth change some way or another. 

So what do you think? Does my job impress you?

 

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