Skip to content

On Lives and Mattering

2016-07-15 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:21 · watch on YouTube

Topic: US politics & society (also: Personal life) · mode: Personal essay · tags: timely hook, heavy topic, civic or action cta

After Christina Grimmie's murder and the Dallas police shootings, Hank reflects on feeling one's body is frail, notes that black Americans live with that fear their whole lives, cites research on unequal policing and sentencing, and says Black Lives Matter names a deep belief that black lives matter less; he asks viewers simply to listen.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — A hard video to write; after Christina Grimmie's murder Hank runs away camping and feels his body's frailness

  • ★ Hank says this is one of those videos he wrote 15 times and still isn't happy with. — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ After Christina Grimmie was murdered, Hank ran away from home, camping with friends without cell service, avoiding the reality that someone who shared his passions was killed meeting fans after a show, as he had just been doing. — 00:00:04
  • ★★ Hank says he spent that time crying and feeling the frailness of his own body as never before, understanding how easily it can all be taken away. — 00:00:20

00:00:29 — Police officers after the Dallas shootings: a difficult job usually done well

  • ★★ Hank imagines every US police officer felt similarly after the Dallas shootings, knowing they could be taken from their families because of what their job is. (hedged) — 00:00:34 · United States
  • ★★ Hank says policing is a difficult job that is usually done well. — 00:00:45
  • ★ Hank says officers who have other career options may now be thinking the job isn't worth it anymore. (hedged) — 00:00:45
  • ★★★ Hank says neighbours, friends and fellow creators have felt the frailness of their own, their children's and parents' bodies all their lives because of the colour of their skin. — 00:00:51

00:00:58 — Black Americans' lifelong frailness; research on arrests, convictions and sentencing; unequal law; what Black Lives Matter means; thanks to black community members

  • ★★ Hank says they live under that weight because they are more likely to be seen as a threat, and any small move seen as suspicious could mean the end of them. — 00:01:09
  • ★★ Hank says he can never fully understand that experience, but he can listen, be open and do some research himself. — 00:01:21
  • ★★★ Hank cites research showing a black person arrested by a police officer is more likely to be shot, injured, pepper sprayed, tased and beaten. — 00:01:26
  • ★★★ Hank cites research showing black people are more likely to be convicted of crimes and to get plea deals involving prison sentences. — 00:01:33
  • ★★★ Hank cites research showing that, once convicted, black people are more likely to receive longer, harsher sentences than the average American. — 00:01:36 · United States
  • ★★★ Hank says we are promised the law sees everyone equally, but we know that's not true. — 00:01:41
  • ★★ Hank contrasts a judge lamenting the lost future of a young white man convicted of rape with indifference to a young black man jailed for selling pot. — 00:01:46
  • ★★ Hank says this unequal treatment is in the experience of every black American he has talked to, and the data consistently shows it. — 00:02:03 · United States

  • ★★★ Hank says 'Black Lives Matter' is not only about Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Michael Brown, Rekia Boyd, Sandra Bland and Tamir Rice but about a deep, destructive national belief that black lives matter less. — 00:02:08

    “a fundamental and deep-seated and destructive belief in this country, that black lives matter less”

  • ★★★ Hank says that belief is expressed at every level of society; as a white person he could live completely ignorant of it, while black Americans are made aware of it even as children. — 00:02:25

  • ★★ Hank thanks the community's black members for being part of it, for their strength and courage, and for sharing their experiences. — 00:02:38 · Nerdfighteria

00:02:46 — John's racism playlist, added to; ask to listen; sign-off

  • ★★ Hank says John earlier made a playlist of creators sharing perspectives and experiences on race; Hank has added to it and linked it in the description. — 00:02:46 · John Green
  • ★★ Hank says we each get only one life through which to experience the world, and are lucky to have this platform for understanding other people's experiences. — 00:02:55
  • ★★★ Hank asks everyone who has time today to take time to listen — not to shout, judge, fight, dismiss or even comment — calling listening the most underappreciated verb in internet discourse. — 00:03:01

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says it is very easy to discount others' experiences, especially when they differ from ours and prejudice already strains the relationship. — video description
  • ★★★ Hank says the issue will never be simple, but very clear data show the criminal justice system values Black Americans differently than the average American - a problem that must be confronted. — video description · United States
  • ★★ Hank thanks Ashley Ford, Ahsante Bean and Nathan Zed for looking over the script of this video. — video description
  • ★★★ Citing The Washington Post, Hank says black people are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police, and unarmed black people 6 times more likely than unarmed white people; he says claims that the data tell a different story cherry-pick. — video description
  • ★★★ Hank cites a more granular study finding Black and Hispanic people more likely to have officers use force on them even when they are complying with law enforcement. — video description
  • ★★★ Citing The Wall Street Journal, Hank says black people get longer sentences for the same crimes in the same situations, even accounting for multiple violations, public defenders, economic status and parole. — video description
  • ★★ Hank says police have difficult, stressful jobs: some communities they protect are very dangerous, and many officers do not want to work there, so those posts are hard to fill. — video description
  • ★★★ Hank says racial bias in the criminal justice system is not a condemnation of police, but it should be admitted and confronted; because society believes black lives matter less, people say Black Lives Matter. — video description
  • ★★ Hank adds that the same study found no difference in the use of lethal force in the communities it studied. — video description

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: African Americans · Black Lives Matter · institutional racism

Also: People: Alton Sterling · Christina Grimmie · Michael Brown · Philando Castile · Rekia Boyd · Sandra Bland · Tamir Rice

Concepts: police brutality · social privilege

Places: United States

Events: Shooting of Dallas police officers

Only in the description or credits: Ahsante Bean · Ashley C. Ford · Nathan Zed · The Wall Street Journal · The Washington Post

Also centred on African Americans: Racism in the United States: By the Numbers · What I've Been Thinking About · ---

Also centred on institutional racism: The Best and Worst of 2014 · Racism in the United States: By the Numbers · ---

Later videos replying to this one