Chicago PD television show. LaRoyce Hawkins explains his position as a Black actor & Black male and attempts to teach Patrick Flueger's character Ruzek that racism is a problem we all must work to change and that White people can not hide behind their privilege of being White.
"I think that’s how Chicago P.D. becomes one of those shows that helps us bridge gaps and start conversations that leads to progress and change. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to do that.”
"It’s a complex situation that acknowledges two things to be true at once: Not all white people are racist; however, racism is an insidious menace to Black lives (e.g., shooting deaths, racial profiling and disproportionate prison sentencing, economic inequality, redlining, etc.) and is an unrelenting reality that white people have the privilege of being able to ignore. So while Ruzek can dismiss Wheelan as one bad apple, it’s just another reminder for Atwater that Black lives are disposable."
“I hope that something in the episode teaches us to unlearn what we thought we knew about what this experience can mean, what this story tells, how it affects the people involved,” he explains. “I hope it shines an authentic and fresh perspective on how families are affected, how the officers involved are affected, and how it resonates with people moving forward.”
TVline.com
LaRoyce's character, Kevin, was referring to this silence. We, as a society, can no longer take the stance that Racism has nothing to do with us.
Look at the Canadian Trucker Protests which have nothing to do with Covid and all participants are White with a slew of confederate flags displayed.
LaRoyce is spot on! White people, myself included, have to listen and talk about racism even if the topic is uncomfortable. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not, as Ruzek says in the episode, "It has nothing to do with me. I just want to go home."
But it has everything to do with Ruzek and every other White person on the planet. Please listen to the Hawkins' dialog and share this post so we can move forward.