My friend Imani sent the note to the small group of us on her email chain. She articulated our collective fear, writing: “My son went jogging this morning and I held my breath until he came home.”
She didn’t have to explain why. Ahmaud Arbery’s killing.
We’d all seen the gruesome, shocking video of the young unarmed black man gunned down by a vigilante father and son. The incident — imprinted on all our psyches — brought her most primal fears and the fears of other mothers of black sons into sharp relief. We who are not mothers, but sisters, wives and aunts also share her anxiety. We know what happened to Ahmaud could have happened to any of our loved ones.
Imani points out that her son was running, as she put it, “in their multicultural neighborhood,” presumably a place where a young black man jogging wouldn’t be seen as unusual. But those of us in Imani’s email group know there is no guaranteed place of safety for our men. Or, for that matter, for ourselves. At any time or place somebody’s unconscious bias or conscious racism might turn an ordinary moment into murder in the street.
The 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery should have been safe. He was out for a run in his own Georgia neighborhood of Santilla Shores, described by The New York Times as a “quiet middle-class enclave.” And yet Gregory McMichael and his son Travis said he “looked like a burglar;” one they suspected had been breaking into area homes. They felt it was okay to try to stop him on a citizen’s arrest. Okay to aim a gun at him when he tried to run around their truck that day in February. Okay knowing they would likely not be charged with a crime.
And they were right. Nothing happened until the video went public. Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump — now representing Ahmaud’s family — said the video captured “a lynching,” forcing the arrests of the father and son.
“Not because law enforcement officials saw the video," Crump said. "But because we the people saw the video and we were outraged.” I wonder if had the video showed two Black men chasing and gunning down an unarmed white jogger, would law enforcement have waited weeks to arrest them?
The McMichaels claimed self-defense even though Ahmaud was unarmed. However, Georgia law says citizen arrests are only legal if the arresters witness an illegal act and have reason to believe the perpetrator would commit another crime. But the McMichaels didn’t see Ahmaud do anything; They just saw him running.
When three prosecutors declined to arrest the McMichaels, the state law enforcement agency named a fourth special prosecutor. The District Attorney says he plans to call for a Grand Jury, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, the jury can’t be empaneled until at least mid- June. At least one local person isn’t waiting to speak. Last week a local news crew discovered an anonymous note left at the site where Ahmaud Arbery was killed. It reads: “Ahmaud, I am so sorry. I should have stopped them. I am so sorry.”
That is cold comfort to me. During the COVID-19 crisis there have been several incidents of young black man accosted for wearing masks while following health guidelines. Like my friend Imani, I’m petrified for my male cousins, friends and my nephew; all of whom have been seen as suspicious more than once before the quarantine. I worry that they will go about living their lives and forget to be on guard. Nevertheless, I felt compelled to remind my nephew to be extra careful right now.
“I know Aunt Callie,” he said, a tinge of anger and resignation coloring his tone. “Why do you think I try not to go outside too much?”
Rest in peace Ahmaud Arbery. I pray justice is served.
