I have a hard time grasping what the verdict of Breonna Taylor case really means. I don’t have to be impacted by the verdict and my privilege allows me to turn away and be comfortable. I don’t like feeling uncomfortable and as a white person, I live in a society that was built to make me feel comfortable. But my Black friends don’t have that choice. They are continually put in situations where they don’t feel comfortable.
I think the real issue is that as a white woman, I don’t have the capacity of understanding this type of situation because our society is built so I don’t have to understand or ever deal with anything like what the Taylor family is dealing with. That is a problem. If I can’t even grasp something like this happening to me, how can I ever have empathy and demand a change?
I think one thing I can do today is to try to sit in the uncomfortableness of this verdict and reflect. Reflect on if Breonna Taylor was my sister or friend. Reflect on if someone told me people got away with murder for a loved one. Talk about how unfair this situation is with my family. Really feel the injustice that occurred and sit with it.
The Breonna Taylor verdict is just one more way the justice system is telling people Black lives don’t matter. As white person with privilege, I can turn away from these kinds of things because they don’t have to affect me. But if we want a change in society, we NEED them to affect us all.