Macklemore Urges White People To Demand Change

*After hearing of the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, rapper Macklemore took to his Instagram page to speak out against police brutality and called for white people to help affect change in the matter. He blames what happened to Sterling on what he refers to as “hundreds of years of conditioning.”

Under a picture of Alton Sterling, the he wrote:

“How many more murders of black people by police before we hold our system and those that enforce it accountable? The footage of Alton Sterling being murdered by a police officer is equal parts horrific, infuriating and devastating. How many times can we watch a family at a press conference in hysterics over the killing of their loved one? Murdered by those that have been assigned to protect us. What do we do in times like these? It’s a question for everyone, but specifically white people. The systematic oppression that enables a murder like this, will be corrected once white people care enough to change it. Alton Sterling didn’t create this problem. This is hundreds of years of conditioning. We have been told our entire lives that people that look like Alton Sterling, selling CD’s outside of a store, are a threat to our society.”

READ RELATED STORY: Macklemore Rips Iggy Azalea’s Black Appropriation in ‘White Privilege II’; She Responds

Macklemore not only calls out law officials for their race-motivated, unjust actions, he also acknowledges his white privilege and addresses how the media spins lies as truth.

“The news, TV, movies, jails, history books, schools and our laws all uphold this false belief,” he opined. “A person isn’t born fearing someone because of the color of their skin. This fear is taught, crafted and instilled in the fabric of our American lives. And although we make strides and progress is measurable at times, I can’t help but think….If I was put in the exact same situation that Alton was in, I would be alive today…Because of the color of my skin. And he’s dead because of his. I often don’t know what to do during these moments.”

Check out his full statement below:

How many more murders of black people by police before we hold our system and those that enforce it accountable? The footage of Alton Sterling being murdered by a police officer is equal parts horrific, infuriating and devastating. How many times can we watch a family at a press conference in hysterics over the killing of their loved one? Murdered by those that have been assigned to protect us. What do we do in times like these? It’s a question for everyone, but specifically white people. The systematic oppression that enables a murder like this, will be corrected once white people care enough to change it. Alton Sterling didn’t create this problem. This is hundreds of years of conditioning. We have been told our entire lives that people that look like Alton Sterling, selling CD’s outside of a store, are a threat to our society. The news, TV, movies, jails, history books, schools and our laws all uphold this false belief. A person isn’t born fearing someone because of the color of their skin. This fear is taught, crafted and instilled in the fabric of our American lives. And although we make strides and progress is measurable at times, I can’t help but think….If I was put in the exact same situation that Alton was in, I would be alive today…Because of the color of my skin. And he’s dead because of his. I often don’t know what to do during these moments. It becomes easier to vent on social media than to take direct action. Here’s a couple things I’ve gotten hip to in the last 2 years. 1: Financially support black led organizations. Put your resources behind people of color that are at the forefront of the movement 2: Do a People’s Institute “Undoing racism” training. One of the most eye opening and important tools to understanding our past in relation to the work that needs to be done. The website is https://www.pisab.org 3: Have conversations about race. In real life. With people that look like you and people that don’t. RIP #altonsterling

A photo posted by Ben Haggerty (@macklemore) on Jul 6, 2016 at 3:29pm PDT

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