No, I'm Not Mourning The Death of Judge Scalia

Quite the opposite. He was not a fan of blacks or gays. If you were both, I am sure he had an amazing opinion. Here is an article I found that sums up my feelings. Very well written and drives to conversation back to the overall treatment of blacks, since slavery!

No, I'm Not Mourning The Death of Judge Scalia.

In the wake of Judge Antonin Scalia's death my timeline was flooded with posts from people of color expressing condolences. I was not one of those people. There is a long history of black folks mourning white folks who did great harm to us during enslavement which continues to resonate today. During the period Black folks were enslaved as chattel they were prohibited from gathering together for any reason to include funerals for fear of revolt . Therefore, slaves were buried in unmarked graves typically dug by slave children, with no public mourning period. In contrast, when a member of the master’s family died, slaves were required to wash, prepare, and dress their dead masters and to plan the repast.

It comes then as no surprise that many Black folks in the immediate contemporary struggle with the notion of bereavement. We have been systematically trained under threat of death to mourn the death of even the most heinous white folks all the while ignoring the passing of our own. This psychosis not only plays a central role in the intraracial devaluation of black life but also the politics of respectability surrounding the mourning of figures such as Judge Antonin Scalia who repeatedly made racist, homophobic remarks in his role as a supposed purveyor of justice for All citizens.

Judge Scalia not only compared gay people to predators and pedophiles he also suggested that black people would do better at remedial schools as opposed to high ranked universities due to what he perceived to be a naturalized race based educational disability. His rhetoric attempted to promote a race and sexual orientation based hierarchy that would undoubtedly support rampant discrimination in employment and higher education therefore exponentially increasing longstanding discriminatory gaps in wealth and outcome for non cis hetero white folks and our families.

In sum, I will not continue the tradition of mourning those who wished to do me harm. I cannot respect the opinions of those who wished to see me suffer. The rules of decorum and respect do not apply to those who call my humanity into question. There is now one less person available to continue that practice.

Full Article: No, I'm Not Mourning The Death of Judge Scalia.