Analysis of "The Condition of Black Life Is One of Mourning"

           From the New York Times Magazine, Claudia Rankine writes about the precarious experience of being black in America. She introduces anecdotes of friends, beginning with a mother of a black son, who states, "The condition of black life in one of mourning"(1). This mother refers to a violent history of systematic racism in our country. America, "the land of the free, home of the brave", becomes a hypocritical stab in the back to groups of people that live in fear of prejudices and profiling. The author of this article also describes the normalizing of profiling people of color. She explains the history of killing black people in America, "Dying in ship hulls, tossed into the Atlantic, hanging from trees, beaten, shot in churches, gunned down by the police or warehoused in prisons..."(4). Black people are wrongfully profiled, imprisoned, and killed every day, and there is an absence of national mourning. In order to create equal civil rights in our country, society needs to respect black culture without prejudice and stereotypes. The author, later, brings up the movement, Black Lives Matter, that was started to demand equal rights for black people. Many critics contest the movement, stating, "All Lives Matter", arguing that it defeats the purpose of equal civil rights. The Black Lives Matter movement creates a national mourning for those dead black lives that went unrecognized. If this movement did not bring to light the massive amount of wrongfully killed black people that were not front-page material, there would be no discussion for these innocent people. From the language that is created in our justice system, this issue is more than surface-level. From the article, Rankine explains the history of our language, "The legacy of black bodies as property and subsequently three-fifths human continues to pollute the white imagination"(8). Creating new language that treats black people with the same respect as white culture can help the justice of our country. Eliminating the 'n' word or any other derogatory slander from white people's vocabulary would help stop the history of oppression with black people. In conclusion, white people are responsible for the oppression of black people throughout American history. As a culture, we can take steps towards a better country if we change the education and justice system to a more equal and humane future.