I continue to feel horrified, overwhelmed, and devastated by this weekend's racist mass shooting in Buffalo, New York. Hatred and white supremacy have once again manifested in our communities, taken lives, and reasserted just how far we have to go to eradicate evil and ignorance.
I am sending my love and prayers to everyone who is mourning the loss of a loved one — and if you'd like to join me in making a contribution to funds to support victims and their families, you can do so here.
As I said on MSNBC this weekend, we need a reckoning in this country. We need to look white nationalism directly in the face and finally do something about the implicit and explicit racism that's deeply rooted in this country we all call home.
As a Black man in America with Black children who also represents diverse communities in New York, I feel constantly under attack and threatened, as do many of the people I represent. I also feel as if an attack made against me will most likely come with no recourse because as history will tell it, there is no justice for people that look like me.
Every single day in America, Black people and people of color are victims of hate crimes and incidents. In some situations, it's a small microaggression that has the power to make a little Black girl quiet and timid in class — afraid to use her voice. In other situations, it results in burying a loved one or the entire destruction of Black establishments and communities — like we saw with Tulsa, Oklahoma. No matter the case, to be Black in America is to be constantly under attack for simply being Black.
Is being Black a crime? Is being a minority a crime? Why as people of color do our experiences invoke hostility and contempt? Why in the 21st century are we still facing brutality and lacking concrete policy and structural processes to prevent hate from materializing every single day?
I want to feel safe and I want every person in this country to feel safe. I want them to feel safe as a person of color, loving whomever they choose, wearing a hijab, burka or yamaka, or speaking in their native tongue.
Republicans have galvanized an entire movement around the Great Replacement Theory, a white supremacy conspiracy theory that fuels their dislike and fear of others. They have deeply ingrained the false idea that people of color are “taking over this country.” Every hate crime we see is an act of ignorance and meant to instill deep fear in us. Fear that throughout our history accompanied a setting sun, shouting in the distance and a burned cross.
We will not be shaken and we will not be moved. Congress must put an end to these hate crimes and we must take every opportunity to root out evil in our communities. History is trying to repeat itself and it’s on us to make sure it doesn't.
Thank you, for being in this fight with me. From the bottom of my heart, I am grateful.
Peace and love,
Jamaal Bowman
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