EVENTS OF AUGUST OF 2020 DURING
THE RITTENHOUSE TRIAL HAS
RETRAUMATIZED PEOPLE IN THE
COMMUNITY AND BEYOND.
IT'S BEEN A RELIVING OF THE
ANGER AND ANGST THAT FOLLOWED
THE MURDER OF GEORGE FLOYD AND
POLICE SHOOTING OF JACOB BLAKE
IN KENOSHA.
NOW THE YOUNG ARMED VIGILANTE
HAS BEEN EXONERATED OF MURDER.
IT'S A LOT.
ANGELA LANG OF BLACK LEADERS
ORGANIZING FOR COMMUNITIES IS
HERE TO TALK ABOUT IT.
THANKS FOR BEING HERE ONCE
AGAIN.
>> YEAH.
THANKS FOR HAVING ME.
>> SO FIRST, WHAT IS YOUR
REACTION TO THIS VERDICT?
>> IT'S HARD.
IT'S HARD TO PROCESS.
IT'S HARD TO HEAR.
AS I'M PROCESSING AND REFLEC
REFLECTING, I DON'T THINK I'M
SURPRISED BY ANY MEANS.
WE'VE BEEN THROUGH THIS BEFORE.
BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY LESS
HEARTBREAKING AND IT DOESN'T
MAKE IT HURT LESS EVEN THOUGH WE
KNOW HOW OUR SYSTEM WORKS OR
DOESN'T WORK FOR US.
>> NOW, YOU WROTE A SEARING
ESSAY PUBLISHED THIS WEEK SAYING
THAT THERE IS NO GOOD OUTCOME
FROM THIS TRIAL.
WHY NOT?
>> YOU KNOW, THE WAY I'VE BEEN
THINKING ABOUT IT IS THAT IF WE
GOT THE VERDICT LIKE WE DID
TODAY, IT'S A GIANT INJUSTICE IN
THAT THIS CHILD, HE WAS 17 AT
THE TIME, WAS ABLE TO CROSS
STATE LINES, MURDER TWO PEOPLE,
INJURE ANOTHER AND BE A FREE
PERSON.
THAT'S A HUGE INJUSTICE.
BUT TO ALSO KNOW THAT HAVE HE
BEEN CONVICTED, WE KNOW THAT
THERE WERE CREDIBLE THREATS OF
THE FAR RIGHT AND PROUD BOYS AND
MILITIA FOLKS THAT WERE READY TO
PICK UP WHERE KYLE HAD LEFT OFF
HAD HE HAD BEEN CONVICTED.
AND SO KNOWING THAT, KNOWING
THAT WHATEVER THE OUTCOME WAS,
IT'S SUCH A HYPER POLARIZED TIME
AND AN INCREDIBLY TENSE
RACIALIZED TIME IT'S HARD TO
BELIEVE THAT KENOSHA ISN'T SMACK
DAB IN THE MIDDLE AND THERE'S NO
GOOD OUTCOME.
>> DESCRIBE THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN RACIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENTS
AND THIS CASE, BECAUSE THE
PEOPLE WHO WERE KILLED WERE
WHITE.
>> YEAH.
AND I'M REALLY GLAD THAT YOU
BROUGHT THAT UP, BECAUSE SOME
PEOPLE DON'T NECESSARILY
UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE THAT ARE
IN SUPPORT OF BLACK LIVES WERE
UPSET WHEN THE VICTIMS WERE
INDEED WHITE.
BUT WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND WHY
EVERYONE WAS OUT THERE IN THE
FIRST PLACE.
THEY WERE ACTUALLY PROTESTING
THE SHOOTING OF JACOB BLAKE.
THEY WERE STANDING WITH THE
BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTORS
AND MEMBERS OF THE KENOSHA
COMMUNITY.
AND SO WHETHER IT WAS A BLACK
PERSON THAT WAS KILLED OR IF
THEY WERE WHITE, AT THE END OF
THE DAY THESE WERE PEOPLE, PART
OF OUR MOVEMENT DEFENDING THE
FUTURE AND LIVES OF BLACK
PEOPLE.
>> ONE THING I SAW THIS WEEK WAS
THAT SUPPORTERS OF KYLE
RITTENHOUSE SHOWED UP OUTSIDE
THE COURTHOUSE DURING JURY
DELIBERATIONS INCLUDING A
REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR U.S.
SENATOR POSING WITH TWO PEOPLE
HOLDING A SIGN OF WHITE
SUPREMACISTS.
>> A DOG WHISTLE IS SOMETHING
THAT YOU COULD BARELY HEAR AND
WAS KIND OF OVER THE RADAR.
THE FACT THAT PEOPLE ARE USING
THESE WHITE SUPREMACIST SYMBOLS
GOES TO SHOW THAT THESE PEOPLE
ARE EMBOLDENS AND THEY FEAR
NOTHING BECAUSE THEY SEE THAT
THERE'S NO CONSEQUENCES FOR
THEIR ACTIONS.
AND SO WE'RE MAKING AN OPENING
FOR THIS TYPE OF BEHAVIOR AND
THESE SHOOTINGS AND THIS
VIOLENCE TO CONTINUE BECAUSE
THERE ISN'T A STRONG ENOUGH
BACKLASH.
AND SO AT TIMES WHERE PEOPLE MAY
HAVE HID UNDER A WHITE HOOD OR
HID SOMEWHERE ELSE AND MAY NOT
HAVE KNOWN -- AND MADE KNOWN
THEIR TRUE VALUES, THEY'VE BEEN
EMBOLDENED BY THE FORMER
PRESIDENT AND SO MANY PEOPLE AND
SITUATIONS IN THIS COUNTRY THAT
THEY'RE OKAY OPENLY FLASHING
THESE WHITE SUPREMACIST SYMBOLS
AS THEY'RE RUNNING FOR OFFICE.
AND I THINK IT'S INCREDIBLY
DISTURBING AND I THINK IT'S ALSO
A TERRIBLE SIGN FOR OUR
DEMOCRACY AND EVERYONE SHOULD BE
CONCERNED ABOUT THAT AS WELL.
>> IN YOUR ESSAY YOU ALSO SAID
THAT THE FAILURE TO MOVE OUR
COUNTRY FORWARD IS POURING
GASOLINE ON A FIRE AND THAT
COUNTERING RACISM CAN'T SOLELY
REST ON THE SHOULDERS OF THE
TRAUMATIZED AND BREATHING.
WHO ELSE SHOULD STEP IN AND WHAT
SHOULD THEY DO?
>> YEAH.
THIS IS A POINT WHERE EVERYONE
THAT IS UNEQUIVOCALLY AGAINST
RACISM AND WHITE SUPREMACY NEEDS
TO STEP IN AND THAT'S WHAT
ANTHONY AND JO JO DID AND WHY WE
ARE RALLYING AND WHY THIS CASE
MEANS SO MUCH TO US, IS EVERYONE
HAS A ROLE TO PLAY,
UNDERSTANDING THAT THIS IS NOT
JUST AT THE HANDS OF BLACK AND
BROWN PEOPLE THAT ARE
EXPERIENCING THE TRAUMA AND THE
COLLECTIVE RACISM AND WHITE
SUPREMACY ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS.
BUT OUR WHOLE COUNTRY NEEDS TO
TAKE A STRONG STANCE AND REJECT
WHITE SUPREMACY.
THE FACT THAT WE AREN'T JUST
ALLOWS FOR CONTINUING AND
OPENINGS FOR PEOPLE TO TAKE
ADVANTAGE AND TO CONTINUE THIS
BEHAVIOR AND CONTINUE, QUITE
FRANKLY, THE DESTRUCTION AND
EROSION OF OUR DEMOCRACY AND
QUITE FRANKLY OF THIS COUNTRY.
>> ANGELA LANG, THANK YOU VERY
MUCH FOR JOINING US ON THIS DAY.