Once again, white supremacy rears its ugly head and whiteness is upheld as the ideal.

I’m angry, but unsurprised at the not guilty verdict Kyle Rittenhouse received. He got away with murder, and if anyone chooses to dispute that, you’re a sad excuse for a human. He murdered two people and injured a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. The officer that shot Mr. Blake also got away with it, and he is back on the job. The system worked as intended, because I knew as soon as that murderer was able to go home and sleep in his own bed, he would get away with it. 

Rittenhouse’s trial was a farce, with the judge acting as his defense attorney at times, while also actively choosing to ignore the law in favor of making sure this murderer was able to get on with his life. Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum were not given that chance. They and Gaige Grosskreutz were at the protest to stand up for Black lives, to show support for Jacob Blake and his family. Kyle Rittenhouse took it upon himself to play vigilante, under the guise of protecting “property.” Make no mistake: if he were Black, Rittenhouse would have been murdered on sight, not being given the benefit of the doubt that white people are given all the time. I knew he would get away with it, yet I’m still angry, still pissed off. His not guilty verdict reinforces white supremacy, emboldens white vigilantes to act as agents of the police, and lets them know they can get away with it. 

I’m not sure what’s worse, this murderer walking away like George Zimmerman and so many others, or that Matt Gaetz has offered him a potential internship in his office. Those two are made for each other in white supremacist, racist hell. Rittenhouse’s fake tears, the judge, the jury, Rittenhouse’s mother, the right-wing supporters, and this “justice system” all worked together to set him free. And yet, I will always be considered “dangerous” and a “threat” simply for being Black. It’s exhausting, frustrating, maddening, disgusting, and unsurprising. The judge essentially enshrined white vigilantism and said that supporting Black lives can mark someone for death. 

Simultaneously, it is quintessentially American, because America is racist. History repeats itself every year and it’s going to continue to do so unless something changes, immediately. Since before slavery, white people have been able to get away with anything and everything under the sun. If any white people were shocked, dismayed, angered, hurt, or felt as though this is not what America is about, you might want to do some soul-searching because this is exactly what America is about. It is exactly why white people are so hell-bent on ensuring Critical Race Theory isn’t taught in K-12 schools, even though it isn’t taught until someone were to take legal courses in college. What they don’t want their children to learn about is the real history of this country, and it’s a disgrace. 

I’m tired, I’m exhausted. It’s not fair that these words have to be written, but truth to power is what I feel the need to do. Although the same crap happens over and over again and nothing changes, I do what I feel is necessary to try and change it. It’s not America, “land of the free and home of the brave”. It’s AmeriKKKa, land of white supremacy and whiteness as the ideal. Something must change, plain and simple.

Email Zach at [email protected]