This is why we're upset. This why we protest. This is why we say with raised voices and raised fists that "Black lives matter!" It's not because we don't believe that white lives matter. It's not because we believe that all police officers everywhere are corrupt. It's not because we are playing victim to the past. It's not because we are greedy and are not thankful for what progress in equality has been made thus far. We're upset because we are tired of having to fight tooth and nail for what systems have created as given rights that most white Americans have always just been entitled to, but that help to perpetuate division and a hierarchical society. We're upset because what has been considered rights for many, have often seemed to be gifts of charity for all the rest of us who are not straight white tow-the-line people.
-- Andrea Krystal, Can Black People Grow Hair?, p. 114
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