It is amazing to see change happen. Some people embrace it and others either cannot see it or refuse to recognize it. They would rather live in the past. As if no one or nothing can improve, evolve, and become better than what was. This is true of both people and organizations. Do or say something that is taken the wrong way and you are labeled, or even cancelled. People will drag out the tired and over used words or sentences, such as, “racist”’ “racism” or “you’re the black face of white supremacy” and “you’re a victim, you need saving”, and so on and so forth. You get the picture.
What does my racial identity have to do with any person’s self-worth except my own? Why is my racial identity relevant to anyone? I refuse to be boxed into anyone else’s narrative or have a particular narrative written about me that only concentrates on my race. When some people can’t fit you into their narrative, they love to make one up to make themselves feel better, especially if they are in the “savior” zone. News flash, I don’t need saving. What I need is to be at the table when decisions concerning our members that may affect the job they are doing out on the streets. The issues that every officer faces, no matter their racial background, or the color of their skin. That should be the focus.
I am a black woman leading an organization that is predominantly white and male. Those are the facts, and you can look them up on the SFPD website. Our department is 46% white. Of those, 816 are males. Even adding up the top three ethnic groups together doesn’t equal the total number of white males. When I was voted in by the members as the vice president, I didn’t want to appeal to any one racial group. For me that’s irrelevant and not even something considered. My focus and reason for running was to represent every member to the best of my ability. For others who do not understand that is sad.
That people focus on skin color is stupid. Playing the race card when others are too weak and lazy to counter the facts staring them in the face, shows that they have not evolved. The fact that 1,703 members voted in our last election shows that collectively we are engaged, and we care about the direction our association is headed. We all come from different walks of life, but we can be united. The use of the tired saying that our association is led by white supremacist is a flat out lie. I would challenge those that continue to insist this is true to please be more creative. This is a lie I will not tolerate.
It is time to rip up the race card. Start by seeing the great work that the members of this association are doing daily. We handle approximately a million calls for service per year. There are calls that we know we should not be handling, yet we still show up for the community and handle them. Our association is advancing, and certain people refuse to recognize it. That is their loss, not ours. We remain committed to our work. We don’t always advertise it, but those communities out there know it. I can’t make people see something that they don’t want to see and aren’t ready to admit. The naysayers can continue to disagree and that’s fine because it will have no impact on how we move forward together. I have said it before: we know who we are. No matter what color our skin is, once that uniform goes on, we are all one color and that is blue.