“When They Call you a Terrorist” Critical Review
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“When They Call you a Terrorist” Critical Review“When They Call you a Terrorist,” written by Patrisse Khan-Cullors, coauthored by asha bendele and with a foreword by Angela Davis was first published in 16th January 2018 at The Bibliophage. It is a compelling and inciting chronicle that talks about the black lives matters and what it means to be an African-American woman in the United States. Patrisse Cullors uses her first-hand real-life experiences to postulate how racism persists in the modern American Society and how the blacks are victimized on the government’s hand in the community. In writing her work, Patrisse Cullors has the aim of illustrating social injustice when it comes to law enforcement in the nation as the people of color are indirectly subjected to oppression and prejudice. In enhancing Black Nationalism, Patrisse Cullors played a vital role in founding a movement whose objectives are demanding justice in the nation. Her efforts in curbing social injustice in the community made her movement Black Live Matters, be known as a vital vessel in enhancing unity and equality in the country. How does racism persist in America hence civil rights are granted to all the citizens? It is alarming and disgusting to understand that this degrading menace still exist in the community today.
“When They Call you a Terrorist” is an excellent literature work that depicts the author’s livelihood in America with regards to the persecution she was subjected to as well as her family members. Throughout the book, the plot is developed by the racism and injustice theme regarding the ethnicity bias in the society (Gyarkye, 2018). The blacks in the community are seen as half human in many instances segregated and often locked behind the prison doors for quire and minor mistakes that in a real sense do not deserve the dully. The people of color are associated with drug abuse and peddling making them the typical targets of police officers that are invaded at any time and anyhow with no consideration of the stigma and sense of non-belonging instigated. Regardless of the blacks living in poverty and harsh environmental conditions, they are exceedingly tracked by the local government where their possibility of getting imprisoned is higher than four times than that of the white counterparts.
Patrisse Cullors tells her story starting with the victimization and segregation she underwent when back in school at her tender age. It was at the era of “war on drugs” which one can conclude to be battle of oppressing and segregating the people of color in the American States. As usual, she was at school in Van Nuys, California when a police officer emerged in front of the class and called out her name. She was arrested in the presence of all the other colleagues and taken to the headmaster’s office where all her belongings were searched. It is unbelievable that even such a tender girl striving to get an education have to be instigated to dehumanization by the local government and the people at higher levels without consideration of her dignity. In her book, Patrisse Cullors also depicts the lives of her brothers who were victims of the same kind of persecution. They were tracked and trained ending up in the juvenile detention at their young age. On their release, they could be seen as human testimony of the suffering and injustice of imprisonment for minor things that did not deserve such sentences.
The theme of racism and injustice develops the major conflict of the story where Patrisse Cullors’s mother is mistreated in front of her parents by the officers as well as her brother being imprisoned and oppressed to the extent of developing schizophrenia disorder. During the 1980s the case is the same when the war on Gang is declared, and surveillance is put in place the offenders who in many instances appeared to the black. Patrisse Cullors uses personal scenarios and experience to portray the injustice menace where the black children grow in the unconducive environment their lives being endangered by the local government just because of their skin color. Towards the end of the story the author talks of her deceased biological father Gabriel, who struggled to overcome drug addiction with the intervention of more than ten counselors. Being a Negro and a drug addict, he served a wide variety of imprisonment. In his burial, Patrisse Cullors states that he demised of a broken heart living in a country of unrevealed promises.
African diaspora communities in the nation experience lots of challenges even today in the society. The fact can be justified by the Patrisse Cullors’s book “When They Call you a Terrorist” regarding how the blacks are mistreated by the local government indirectly in the name of enforcing law and order. It depicts that the granting for civil rights after a great struggle did not mark the end of racism but indeed maneuvered it differently. During the early decades, oppression could be done on the face to the Negros and other minorities where they could not have access to the education facilities, healthcare as well as other white social amenities. A number of civil rights such as the right to vote were also not granted with no plead o the injustice and inconvenience being subjected to the people of color. In the modern society, Black Nationalism gave way to civil rights which are constitutional to all people regardless of their color and ethnicity (Williams, 2017). However, various indirect oppressions and victimization raise the alarm when it comes to the enhancement of civil justice to the blacks.
The barbaric police are all around in the African-American residence as well as in other streets mistreating the Natives in the name of fighting drug abuse and other social violence, but in the real sense discriminating against the minorities. Patrisse Cullors gives an illustration of how she was harassed by the police officer in front of other students as well as the headmaster and teachers who did not even questioned for the act. It is right that there were no drugs found after the search and all that, but the author puts it clear that the primary focus was a violation and stripping as a way of way of subjugating the minority. The head of school, as well as the police officer, do not mind the stigma and guilt the girl will face in her education line as she interacts with her classmates and colleagues who at many times will tend to victimize her and make jokes of her experience as an African-American.
The action of Patrisse Cullors forming the Black Lives Matters depicts Pan Africanism. It is through her experience as a black woman in America since her tender age when she was starting her schooling to her life as a mother and wife of an immigrant that stimulated her as an advocacy leader. Social prejudice is a devastating threat that leads to degradation of cultural development. Patrisse Cullors remains steadfast in her advocacy towards Black Nationalism as she could not intend her children and other minority groups to go through the same oppression in the community. Consider a society where innocent children have put custody and tend to be the testimonies of how life in prison is terrible, just because of their ethnicity and skin color. They will grow in anxiety that in future will lead to psychological disorders as it was the case with Patrisse’s brother. Monte Cullors was arrested and taken to the Los Angeles County Prison at the age of twelve years where he was significantly harassed and end up developing a schizoaffective disorder.
In consideration of the author’s perception in writing the book, racial discrimination is present in the 21st century even though indirectly and it takes a lot of effort in curbing the issue. Dealing with the black matters have become extra challenging because the racial injustice menace has been widely spread at the government level where those in mandate victimize the Negros in the process of enforcing the law. The police officers are used to oppress the black inhabitants as they have the power of maintaining security in the nation. For instance, consider the case of the officer who intruded Patrisse’s home and carried out a thorough search in all the resident rooms. He was cruel and did not show respect to the narrator’s mother in front of her children. Even if he was under the call of duty, there have to be some sense of humanity as we live in a civilized nation.
It is astonishing, considering that Patrisse Cullors is talking about racism and social injustice in the 21st century. Take the incident of the George Zimmerman acquisition after the murder of Trayvon Martin who was only seventeen years old back in the year 2012. Being an activist and freedom fighter, Khan-Cullors was touched by this issue remembering her life story and the shame as well as oppression she faced during her schooling (Tefera, et al. 2018). The act of no law action being taken towards the murderer postulates racial injustice in the community where the black’s rights are assumed. It is clear that Kha- Cullors is a victim of segregation in modern society as illuminated in her book depicting that there is more to be done regarding Black Nationalism in America.
From Patrisse Cullors’s story, it is convincing that the act of the blacks being called terrorists and Burroughs in the modern society is racial biased. Some of the officers and other leaders in the American community tends to oppress the people of color indirectly with the victimization of drug abuse, trafficking, and violence among other minor illegalities. In her book as well as the foundation regarding black lives matters portrays Kha- Cullors’s patriotism and how disgusting it is to be under racial chauvinism. The book is practical to the study of students African diaspora, Black Nationalism or Pan Africanism course as it forms the foundation in understanding the detrimental impacts of racial injustice as well as the necessity of national cohesion. Therefore, people have to eradicate the racial menace as it is a threat to social-economic and political development in the society. Also, the government has to implement appropriate policies of enhancing civil rights to all citizens as well as educating the public on the matters regarding social equality and racial injustice.
References
American Library Association. (2017). Cognotes-2018 Midwinter Meeting-December Preview.
Gyarkye, L. (2018). WHEN THEY CALL YOU A TERRORIST A Black Lives Matter Memoir.
Tefera, Adai A., Jeanne M. Powers, and Gustavo E. Fischman. “Intersectionality in Education: A Conceptual Aspiration and Research Imperative.” (2018): vii-xvii.
Williams, A. (2017). When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir.