i refuse to raise my kids in an environment where they're the only black/brown kids. growing up as the only/the token black/brown kid fucks you up. being one of the only filipinos in alabama exhausted my spirit.
at "best," i was othered and made to be the supporting character in my own life. always the smart and/or sassy best friend, never the heroine. held to an impossible standard, while my white peers flaunted their mediocrity. at worst, i was bullied. but fortunately, never suffered hate crimes ranging from getting getting my ass beat to dying under suspicious circumstances.
nolan wells was an eighteen-year-old black boy. he went on a boat trip in coastal missisippi with a group of white boys he thought were his friends. presumably, he trusted them. they returned from the trip with his phone and without him. so many of these articles either crop out these motherfuckers, or only include photos of nolan without them.
we know what happened. "allegedly." these are sadistic sociopaths who, if we give them the benefit of the doubt, didn't care to check on their friend who supposedly was hanging out with a girl, yet took his phone with them. if we're being real, we know that they knew they could get away with manslaughter or murder with no consequences. america always prioritizes white men's futures over the harm they've inflicted.
these cases continue happening because hate begets hate. people who shrug away racism and bigotry with "racists are old and dying out" are naive. racists indoctrinate their children to be racist. they don't see black and brown people as human. they don't have community. they have elaborate coverups to evade accountability. white kids have to purposefully seek to learn more and change their minds, but many don't.
nolan should still be alive. his family's attorney, ben crump, is amazing. if they can't get justice for nolan (which, given america's history and the current state of it, unfortunately likely), they need to sue the fuck out of the white boys' parents.
i could barely sleep last night. i kept having nightmares about k and z at nolan's age. dying alone because they made the mistake of trusting the wrong people. this is why i'm so vigilant about them learning discernment. developing their sense of danger and radar for bullshit. at 3 and 5, they already have good instincts. i will never discount when they get bad vibes from people.
they love to yap about their friends and school. we listen and encourage them to share. they tell us any time a friend or classmate does or says something sus. they know to tell us if a kid has guns in their house, so they won't be allowed to play there. i'm staying paranoid while hugging my living kids.
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