by Samuel James

Take 2 

Hi. I’m Samuel James and I’d like to try this again.

A few months back, I wrote a cover story for DigPortland (whatever that was) in which I asked readers to write to me about race. I wanted people to write to me about race so I could then sit down with another Mainer of a relevant racial persuasion, discuss your thoughts with them, and write about that discussion.

The point was for us to have a meaningful community discussion about racial issues and experiences. DigPortland folded soon after, so obviously that never happened, but I did get over 70 responses. For a single story in a short-lived alt-weekly that you probably don’t even remember, I think that’s pretty good. It tells me that Mainers do want to talk about race. So I’d like to try this again, here, in The Bollard. Whaddya say?

Now, real quick, before you ask …

• Yes, I know a “meaningful community discussion” sounds like a sleepy hell you arrive in after being bored to death. Nevertheless, that’s the most honest description I can think of to explain what this is. I promise not to bore you to death.

• Yes, I know there’s a chance some real assholes will write in. I want that, if only to make an example.

• Yes, I know Starbucks tried this. There are some obvious reasons why that was a terrible failure (not the least of which being the fact these discussions were supposed to take place at the cash register, with a line of anxious caffeine junkies behind you), but I think the biggest reason is that not everyone is qualified to talk about race.

That doesn’t have to be the case. As I said, I’m going to talk about what you write with a friend, and I’ve got lots of friends who can talk about lots of things — from an Asian, trans, female friend to a white, straight, male friend who’s a cop. You got a question? I’ll find a response. I’m very social.

So, the question …

For this, the second premiere episode of Racisms, I’ll address a question I heard recently at an #blacklivesmatter protest here in Portland. But before I get to this question, I want to say something about protesting: I hate it.

I don’t like marching in the street. People march in the street when something is very wrong. People march in the street when the people in charge are not listening. People march in the street when there are no other options left. People march in the street when lives have been lost. People march in the street when more lives are about to be lost.

I hate protesting because I hate that it has come to this. I hate protesting because I know it will likely not be the last protest I attend. I hate protesting because civil-rights protests don’t work without violence, and I hate violence. But I also hate protesting because I have a short temper, so I understand how quickly they can go wrong. And I hate protesting because I’m not sure whether or not a protest-gone-wrong actually does more good in the long run.

I can’t chant with everyone else because I know the second I open my mouth I will start screaming and looking for a trashcan to throw through a window. It’s all I can do to march silently, so that’s what I do. I march silently, trying to hold myself together. This inevitably becomes more difficult when people pop out of the bars to laugh at the protest. It becomes exponentially more difficult when a man decides to walk alongside the protest yelling, “Kill the niggers! Burn the niggers! Drown the niggers!”

Yes, that happened. That happened right here in beautiful, downtown Portland, Maine, in 2015. And in that moment, as I’m looking for a trashcan to throw this man into and then throw through a window, I hear another man’s voice from behind me laugh and yell at us, “Why are all of you protesting? You’re white!”

So I turn around, wondering just how many trashcans I’m going to need for this protest, and I look at that second guy. He’s white, big, forty-something. He looks kind of like your jackass cousin who loudly denies the existence of white privilege. (Yeah, I’ve met your cousin. He follows me on Twitter.)

Anyway, this man, who was clearly not qualified to talk about race, did that thing where you’re laughing at your own joke and looking around to see if other people are laughing with you, but they’re not, and then you’re embarrassed. He clearly had no idea what protests are or what they’re for. And he definitely had no idea he was asking the question I’m now going to try to answer here.

Why are all these white people protesting? I can’t answer for them, but I can tell you that white people are necessary for any kind of equal-rights movement in this country. You’re inside the castle walls. We can knock all day, but ultimately you have to be the ones to open the gates. Progress will take too long without you.

On a grander scale, as a member of the human race, I can tell you that we are all needed to move forward. What if the guy who would someday cure cancer was just shot by a racist cop? What if the girl who would someday create the ultimate renewable-energy source is stuck in the school-to-prison pipeline? What if the rich person who would’ve donated a million dollars to the cause closest to your heart never got rich because a racially biased standardized test kept her from going to college?

My point is that it’s unacceptable for us, as humans, to refuse to give everyone the opportunity to help push humanity forward. Equal rights don’t just benefit minorities. Equal rights benefit you.

So keep those cards and letters coming.

Samuel James is an internationally renowned bluesman and storyteller, as well as a locally known filmmaker and Videoport employee. He lives in Portland and can be reached at racismsportland@gmail.com.