Is The White Picket Fence for the Black and Brown? An op-ed by Maun Muhammad

The white picket fence is a far-fetched dream for the many who make up America’s racial and economic minority. Before people of color can even consider the middle class, suburban havens, we have much bigger obstacles to overcome. 

In my neighborhood, South Shore, the population is 92.93% African American/Black, and 55.8% of those residents have a high school diploma. The crime rate is 194% above the national average, according to AreaVibes. It’s far from the American Dream, with abandoned buildings, gun violence and car thefts happening right outside my window. 

When my parents were first starting to raise a family, their main focus was the success and safety of their children, not the “American Dream”. They didn’t have time to focus on things that seemed far-fetched and impossible, they had to think about what was right in front of them.

The perfect, inspirational slogan to advertise the American dream is : “it’s not about stuff, it’s about opportunity”. These are the words that give immigrants of every race, ethnicity and nationality courage to leave their homeland and come here for a life that’s better or different than what they left behind. The same words push many Black Americans to work as hard as they can to beat our statistics and make it big. And they’re still the same words that stab minorities, like myself, in the back when Muslims are labeled as terrorists, and Black and Latinos are portrayed as reckless criminals and border - jumping thugs. 

In response to the unjust death of Black people like Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and many others, we took to the streets. Some marched peacefully, but when the sun went down, others rioted. Perhaps it was built-up anger, or maybe it was simply greed, but either way, they painted the cities red. Many raided stores, busted police cars, and spray painted messages on buildings. They wanted America to hear them, to finally see them and ignore them no more. When the troops were brought in to help handle the situation, it only made it worse. In Portland, the troops were deported in mid/late July, and the war between them and activists is still going on today. 

In Chicago, in response to the raiding and looting of business, some members of Latinx gangs , presumably the Latin Kings, decided to deal with the problem themselves and attack any Black person who stepped foot in their neighborhoods. 

Three people were shot and two were killed, according to the Chicago Sun Times, and there’s been rumors that they dragged a Black pregnant woman out of her car, beat her and shot her to death. This is just one example of how the desire and quest for the American dream has pitted minorities and people of color against one another. 

But, these are also the moments where many were reminded that in our struggle we have to band together. Shortly after the incident, other members of the Black and Brown communities were horrified and took to the streets,  demanding Black and Brown unity. A food pantry was opened to support both low income communities, and a mural was painted to honor the Black and Latino victims of police brutality. 

When I first heard about the attacks I was heartbroken. I could accept that there were racist police out there, fine, but to be attacked by my Brown brothers and sisters - in the metaphorical sense - to be attacked by someone who was going through the same oppression as my own, it felt like a sick betrayal. I have Hispanic colleagues and classmates that I consider friends, and now there was a wedge between us. I was more than relieved to hear about the unity march and efforts that were being made to resolve the issue in our communities. 

However, although we have that small glimmer of hope, it’s not enough. 

Before we can reach the pearly gates of "Peaches Avenue", we've got to fight for the most basic of dreams - equal human rights. 

For a long time, the promise of opportunity and success through hard work was used as some sort of an excuse for the lack of success in Black and Brown communities. Lack of education was always the reason why we had gangs and violence in our neighborhoods, when in truth, most gangs were started as a way to take care of our own and protect ourselves. 

Back in April, the Center for American Progress released an article titled “The Economic Fallout of the Coronavirus For People of Color”. In the article, the writers Connor Maxwell and Danyelle Soloman states that “Nowhere are the effects of this current emergency more acute than in communities of color, which have long endured occupational segregation, economic exploitation, and employment discrimination.” 

The article continued to analyze the financial affect the COVID-19 pandemic had on people of color, explaining the safety measures issued by the CDC to prevent the spread of the virus also affected small businesses, especially “Businesses in Black-majority neighborhoods, for instance, were already losing billions of dollars in revenue per year compared with similar businesses in non-Black-majority neighborhoods,” say the authors. 

“Many people of color, especially those without college degrees, are unable to work remotely and receive regular pay during this potentially lengthy period of social distancing,” they continue. And to top it off, “ calculations from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis suggest the COVID-19 pandemic could eventually produce unemployment levels of up to 32 percent nationally. Regardless of the level at which unemployment peaks nationally, it will be even higher for people of color because they are largely restricted to the most at-risk occupations.”