A Summer Love
Many Black friends sign off of social media when the verdict news broke, too exhausted and heartbroken to continue. The muted response and lethargy of bandwagon white activists played out much like any social justice trend - or any modern marketing/lifestyle trend for that matter. I've watched the same happen every election cycle with a candidate or crisis of any fame (War in Iraq, Obama, Anti-Trump). Still, the awareness and sensitivity get ticked up for sustained issues. Much is forgotten as lockdowns are relaxed and many universities open up.
The Color Blind society after the 60's and 70's made it ok to forget. But there were white people before and through and after who didn't forget. Some new injustices and disparities were acknowledged and accepted (Affirmative Action, the actual mention of 'diversity' as something to consider, more cultural integration/celebration/appropriation). It took recorded, undeniable tragedies, stories, conscious amplification of virtue signaling - and a generation of white kids who seek acceptance and validation in environmental social justice association (celebrity activism as an extreme).
As you said, Bonsu, its not a surprise. It's a different context, with new awareness and acceptance lingering after the bandwagon empties. Viewing success or positive shift by mass, sustained loyalty and anger and demonstration will always be tragic and infuriating. But there are a few more who remain. And there are those who were helping to pull when the road was much rougher and unseen.
For others the latest movement changed how we viewed support and participation as humanists. We saw the recycling of the same posts, links, messages, unexamined anger as trendy. Action meant, means, staying true behind the scenes. Policy work, data analysis to prove inequality and injustice - the unglamorous and systemic shifts that can't be photographed.
It means connecting deeper and loving Black friends, not because they're Black and Breonna Taylor's killers are free, but because they are friends, complex individuals, in real friendship. Their pain, fear, grief, and need last beyond the moment and a summer fling with a trend.
