By John Pavlovitz
May 1, 2020
As a white man watching the Michigan protests of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home orders, all I could think was:
Black people don't get to do this.
Muslims don't get to do this.
Latinos don't get to do this.
People who don't look like this don't get to do this.
They don't get to swarm American capitol buildings in tactical gear with high-powered weapons, screaming in close proximity to police officers.
They don't get to dress up like Call of Duty cosplayers and attempt to physically intimidate politicians into bending to their wills.
They don't get to get to stop traffic in city streets decked out like they work at the Death Star and brazenly wield semi-automatic rifles.
They don't get to terrorize decent people and walk away.
Only white people get to do this.
This violence is a singular privilege afforded to caucasian men in America.
People of color aren't afforded this luxury.
They can't even get close to such ugliness.
Heck, they barely get to breathe.
No, they're shot as 12-year olds walking through the park with toy guns.
They're choked out selling cigarettes on street corners.
They're assassinated while unarmed in their cars during routine traffic stops.
They're gunned down in their homes by uninvited police officers.
They're driven into the pavement by overzealous security guards.
They're demonized as mothers declaring that their murdered children's lives mattered.
They're publicly vilified by white presidents for silently kneeling on NFL sidelines.
Black people don't get to to wear menacing masks or flash handguns on courthouse steps or accost strangers looking like dollar store stormtroopers, in an attempt to frighten people.
