DAY 83

A rally was held in downtown Howell today, in support of people of color who are protesting violence and injustice. The details of the event were a little sketchy. I was not sure who was organizing it, or if in fact, anyone was organizing it. Rumors were being circulated on social media about possible agitators coming in to disrupt the rally. There were also rumors about a group that was planning to have members present to assist law enforcement if necessary. The Howell police department advised businesses to close early or not open at all.

When I drove through town at about 9:00 in the morning there were several men milling around the war memorial in front of the courthouse, but I did not see anyone carrying weapons. I read a few posts on Facebook advising white people to avoid any protests that are not organized by Black Lives Matter or similar groups, and not to try and make this about us. One writer offered the opinion that white people in Howell Michigan were just trying to assuage our guilt over the history of our town, that a protest here was nothing more than performative. I gave a lot of consideration to these ideas before deciding whether I wanted to participate. I finally decided that we have to speak out. White people have been silent for too long. It is not enough to sit back and let the oppressed do all of the protesting.  I felt a deep need to show up and voice my anger and frustration over the ongoing crimes committed against my fellow human beings. And I wanted to set an example for Miss Nine.

We drove through town at about noon to see if anything was actually happening. There were about thirty people gathered in front of the courthouse. They were holding signs, wearing masks, and all was peaceful. We got our signs and sat on a bench for a few minutes while I talked to her about what was going on, then we joined the line of folks near the street. In addition to the people actively participating, about another twenty or thirty were just hanging around on the courthouse lawn, watching. Mind you, these were all white people, no one of color that I could see. Many drivers passing us honked and waved in support. At least one that I saw gave us the finger. We stayed for about an hour and went home.

I drove through town a couple of times later in the afternoon while running errands. By dinner time a hundred or more people were gathered, including a few African Americans, with not a sign of any problems. I read in the paper later that there were a couple of altercations between protesters and at least one bystander. One arrest was made, a young man who showed a gun as he drove by.

 I watched a video that Ellen Degeneres posted on Facebook. She talked about the protests going on around the world and the role that whites should or should not take. She made the observation that maybe some people don't say anything because they are afraid of saying the wrong thing. She asked her coworker, Twitch for his take on the situation. He said, "don't worry about saying the wrong thing, just say something. Speak up when you see or hear injustice." I thought about the times in my life when I have heard a racist joke or remark and stayed silent rather than calling the person out for it. I will never, ever do that again. We should not need people who are being oppressed to teach us how to respond to these things, but I am taking Twitch's advice to heart.