The latest meeting of the Charlotte City Council following the tragic and inexcusable death of Keith Lamont Scott, wasn’t an easy one. The tension was high, the people were angry, and, as CNN reports, many of the participants were peaceful protesters and Black Lives Matter activists, attending to hold aloft signs in support of Scott and their cause.
But in the midst of all the commotion — including refusals to stand for the flag and tense moments in which activists demanded that the mayor and the police chief resign — an unlikely voice emerged to show exactly why discrimination needs to be addressed and why Black Lives Matter is more important now than ever. That voice belonged to nine-year-old Zianna Oliphant, who had to climb a step ladder to reach the podium where she begged for change through uncontrollable tears.
“I’ve been born and raised in Charlotte,” Oliphant said, “and I’ve never felt this way ’til now. And I can’t stand how we’re treated.” Then, she broke down into tears and had to compose herself before continuing.
“It’s a shame that our fathers and mothers are killed and we can’t even see them anymore,” Oliphant cried. “It’s a shame that we have to go to that graveyard and bury them. And now we have tears, and we shouldn’t have tears. We need our fathers and mothers to be by our side.”
According to CNN, Oliphant ended her speech by saying, “We are black people and we shouldn’t have to feel like this. We shouldn’t have to protest because y’all are treating us wrong. We do this because we need to and have rights.”
While many have supported Oliphant’s statements — because it’s unthinkable that a nine-year-old should have to stand in front of a room weeping for the people in her community not to be killed — others immediately referred to the child as being brainwashed and demanded that black people stop breaking the law and follow police orders if they wanted to live, conveniently ignoring all the times that a white suspect who had done a little more than just carried marijuana on their person or “looked like a bad dude” was able to be peacefully detained by the police.
This becomes even more evident in the case of Alfred Olango, a San Diego man who was shot to death by police for acting ‘erratically‘ on Tuesday. Police are still investigating whether he had a gun — reports suggests it was a vape pen — but what’s more infuriating and heartbreaking is the fact that his sister was the one to call 911. Her brother was having a seizure and she wanted paramedics on the scene. Unfortunately, police got there first. Olango died of wounds inflicted during the shooting.
Both Oliphant’s testimony and Olango’s death are important reminders of how terrifying, painful, and dangerous it is to be black in America in 2016. When the people who are sworn to protect you are the ones committing the crimes, who can you call when you need saving?
