White Love Matters?

It is usually those whose love is fake that have a compulsion to prove their love. ―Mokokoma Mokhonoana

Around the same time as the Watts Riots in Los Angeles and Malcolm X’s assassination in 1965, Jackie DeShannon sang, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love. No, not just for some, but for everyone.” While the song went on to become a #1 smash and Dionne Warwick added it to her catalog a year later, I don’t think many people listened. Or maybe we need a little more than love.

We need action to commemorate the expression of this alleged love. It’s been said that love is a verb, so… yeah. We need follow-through.

For the last three weeks, there has been a lot of movement and reaction around the world in response to George Floyd’s murder. It’s been inspiring to see so many people from different ethnicities and backgrounds come together to protest hate, amidst calls for justice reform.

I’ve gotten a lot of love from my white colleagues and neighbors, but I’m skeptical of its authenticity because the way Floyd was handled under the color of authority isn’t new to me. I’ve been Black and unable to convince these same colleagues for years that there is a problem in the workplace, in the streets, with corporations and even where I reside.

I’m a little wary of people saying they’re with me when in the past, the declaration only lasted for a limited time while the follow-through often absent the whole time. My expression of pain and plight have been dismissed as angry or…