a choice of taking what is available or nothing at all.
"the regional council must decide whether a private toll bridge is better than no bridge at all—it's a Hobson's choice"
Many people are, right now, faced with a Hobson's Choice.
Do they join the protests against racism and oppression? Or do they stay away?
The fact that the demonstrations are happening in the midst of a deadly pandemic make this choice incredibly difficult for some.
In many ways people of colour have been faced with a raft of Hobson's Choice all of their lives.
Take the lower paying job, or go jobless.
Take the lesser education, or nothing at all.
Take a lower paying contract, or nothing.
Take grudging respect as an entertainer or athlete, or nothing.
Take a life of privation and disrespect or...get killed because of the colour of their skin.
So, do people go out in a pandemic, stand for hours in the sun (or rain), get tear gassed or beaten? Live with the fact that lives will continue to be lost - stolen from them - or potentially catch the virus?
Some white people are criticizing people about endangering society by potentially spreading the virus. But for some people there is only one choice. Or rather, there is no choice other than Hobson's.
Demonstrate or nothing changes when the pandemic is over. Because pandemics come and go, but racism seems to live on forever.
When I was a teenager watching the 'race riots' (as they were labeled by the media of the day) I fully expected people of colour to be in a better place by now.
I see that I was wrong. My whiteness assumed that justice would prevail.
As I aged, I began to recognize my privilege as a white person in a society where the benefits were heavily weighed in my favour.
A couple of years ago I began re-tweeting posts by POC. No comment - just handed their words to my platform (as tiny as it is).
If you are white and do not understand why people are marching, look at the statistics. Look at the video on line of police overstepping their authority. Beating people. Attacking journalists, even those credentialed by their own police departments. Hurling verbal and physical abuse at medics, injuring people on their way to work at essential jobs. The same people hailed as'heroes' just one week ago are being 'arrested' and in some cases severely injured.
Then ask yourself - is this right? Is this just? Or is this Hobson's Choice? Speak out? Or continue to be oppressed?
1 comment:
I have REALLY wished that we weren’t in the middle of this pandemic-I would absolutely be out there with the peaceful protesters, and helping with the cleanup in the aftermath of the rioters. But I can’t now. Even if I wear my mask, too many others aren’t wearing one and there are too many people. And so it is that my white privilege protects me and harms people of color once again-because their choices are more forced than mine. I am trying to be more conscious about what I CAN do, and to take action where I can-with my purchases, my votes, and my little everyday interactions in my little neighborhood on my morning walks.
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