You'll Die By It, But Will You Kill?
White agency and docile victims for the niggas learning to jaywalk.
Before we get into this meal of an essay, let’s set the parameters with an appetizer. The rest of the piece hinges on Luigi Mangione being the murderer of the United Healthcare CEO. This is but one possibility. Not saying this based on some naive “let the legal system do what it was built on” ideology. I just think the NYPD deserves a healthy dose of public suspicion against it. Not 24 hours before they found Luigi Mario their mouth was halfway down his shaft singing the mystery murderer’s sophisticated crime praises. Nevertheless, my analysis sits on a reality where some disgruntled rich white kid was vewy vewy mad and committed a booboo. That clear? Bet, let’s eat.
Exceptions to the Rule
I am not ready to let white agency be the death of me. Historically, this fate has fallen on fucking everyone. God, couldn’t even count if I tried. Agency over one’s ability to enact violence is powerful. How often does the actions of a single person catch the public attention for this long?
Luigi Mangione, is nothing more than a disgruntled white man with an awareness of his power. People are working overtime to morph his image into something of the common man for us all to get behind. His image reveals something much more insidious to me. Not his image alone, but his image next to the like of the two trump attempted murderers. All conservative white men ready to take matters into their own hands. Unfortunately, I have never known a white man to do anything else in a moment of frustration. Especially a rich one like Mr. Mangione, I wonder how many times he’s been told no? I guess one too many from United Healthcare. Get in line with the rest of us, loser.
Nope! Click, bullet, boom, problem solved.
It’s what their ancestors would’ve wanted really. It’s what they created. White supremacy relies on all forms of violence being accessible to white people immediately and without question. The capitalism that white supremacy fuels hopes most of those white people will choose not to access it except to uphold the systems, never against it. That’s why our boy bout to have the most beautiful bottom up view of whichever maximum security prison they send him to. How dare he exercise the privilege we gave him against us??? Does he know how hard it is to keep the public docile? No doubt, an example will be made of this self-flagellating white supremacist. R.I.P. the boi LuLu Man.
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I don’t think Luigi has the political range to understand why choosing a healthcare CEO to kill was so genius. He chose the single issue that every American has to deal with and that’s the institution that decides whether they care about your inevitably decaying body. Luigi Mangione’s act of passion targeted a man who’s skin, when exposed to black light, is but a canvas for the blood of millions. Retaliation we can get behind…but…what happens when the target is literally anyone else?
The usual targets for the violence that white agency affords are Black people, POC, disabled people, Muslims, queer people. And people celebrate just the same. When white agency allows for a white man to choke a Black man to death in the Subway, their celebrations look the same. When it’s an indigenous woman protesting for Palestine being threatened with a gun and knife they still go to Facebook and say she deserved it. Let us not be childish in our celebration with those who celebrate our deaths too.
It’s what the capitalist class, money hoarders, want really. A distraction so they don’t turn around and point fingers in the right direction, perfect. Think about how well it’s worked thus far. How many trans people have been murdered this year? & how many CEOs? Right…right.
Luigi murdering this boss man is an outlier scenario brought on by Trump’s farce of companionship with the white working class. He pretends to hate the people he’s working with to further disenfranchise the people that make up his base. He says the big corporations have “raped” the US. Then his white base shoots his buddy in the head before he even has the chance to make them his cabinet members. That’s what happens when you play a wolf in sheep’s clothing for too long. The murder is not backed by a coherent politic, but instead fragments of a systemic problem they’ve felt the repercussions of.
Disgruntled white people will continue emotionally backed violences on an individual basis. Some of instances will intersect with the wishes of marginalized people, but most often we will be the targets of their violence. That will continue until there is a concerted collective effort to hold our own agency.
Violence and the Rest of Us
We have the capitalist class of people who are actively using violence constantly. This ain’t just physical, every comment, pearl clutch and strange look is included. Then there’s white people who, regardless of class oppression, feel some agency over their ability to exert violence to solve their problems (white supremacy has afforded them this).
Then there’s the rest of us. The rest of us who have been propogandized to believe violence should ONLY exist as a tool of the state. We simpletons are not to exert any form of violence over each other. “Only the government can do that”…smells like bitch in here.
Lemme stop being judgemental because I empathize with how people have gotten to this point. America has only forcefully beaten it into every non-white body from the moment they pop out the pussy. Hell, there’s probably some study about the trauma you receive from racism in utero. Choosing to express your agency through violence as a non-white person, especially a Black or indigenous one, gone have you singing Akon.
This ain’t by mistake it’s by design. Wiggers been doing this to the people they rule over since colonizers claimed land and the people they brought to it as their own. Life, liberty, and property amirite?
Black people’s arrival into the United States exists on the dispossession of their agency (being picked up and placed a boat headed toward a different land) which continued explicitly for centuries and continues implicitly through many avenues today. It’s imbedded into every facet of your world. You cannot react to the extreme violence you are under because it is justified, we are justified in doing it and you are not. Why? Uhhh, because I said so! Mmmmm 😋, delicious dissonance, it’s an acquired taste.
The same affect is created when the state bombs the fuck out of some country in the middle east or Africa for a precious natural resource and spins the narrative to the American civilians being like “see we’re protecting you!” From what, the global south having self-reliance??? They play super hero in advance so they may leverage a false sense of protection over the public. Can’t pretend like it’s not affective, I die a little anytime some old Black person says “thank you for your service” to someone in a played out camo uniform *shudders*. They outfits don’t even be cunty these days (those WWII hats do kinda eat).
America relies on us as obedient docile victims so a few oligarchs may continue extracting as they wish. For those not so docile white victims, they must direct their misguided anger at everyone else to keep them distracted. Who cares if millions of people die, at least it’s not the rich daddies, PHEW!😮💨
Historically speaking, any attempt at creating viable opposition within the US has resulted in the death of a movement’s symbols or worse, the mass death of movement participants. Bombing neighborhood blocks, killing political movement leaders, injecting guns and drugs into communities to create self-destruction. That’ll teach ‘em for sure. Definitely did. The fear instilled into our community was fruitful for the state’s ability to disrupt people’s agency.
Individual Agency vs. Collective Action
There is a major difference. Clock it.
Individual agency is what murderous white people exhibit going through in an emotional breakdown. We’re left with angry white people generally misdirecting their anger. If it’s not misdirected at more marginalized people it’s an individual attempt to get some steam off. Our main man Luigi is the perfect example. There is no organizational backing to create meaningful change because his politics fucking suck.
BUT because he’s white he’s held up as a revolutionary symbol when, in actuality, he don’t give a fuck about anyone but himself and what he’s been afforded. What he really exemplifies is disjointed one off violence that comes from a broader white sense of entitlement. Don’t get me wrong I agree that all healthcare should be free, I’m just not gonna start an individual mission to hunt down the CEO of my healthcare provider because of it. That’s some white shit.
I choose collective action instead. Productive collective action hinges on individuals understanding their own personal autonomy while working as one body. Without working collectively, systems cannot be toppled.
Many Black Americans have been convinced that action is meant for others, or that action is meant to exist in a non-violent lala land that was created by those same people actively using violence against us. A skroooong Stockholm Syndrome. I don’t know about y’all but I’m not here to wait for a magical negro hero to save me. I choose to place myself in collective action to make the changes we decide to pursue.
I’m asking y’all to be murderers?!?! Am I saying we need to be ready to spar on the frontlines of community militias? Only if you bad.
Nah I’m playing, not quite yet. Do I think there could be a time where self-determined militias popping up would be helpful? How you think the Haitian Revolution happened? I just don’t think people have organized to that extent yet. What I’m suggesting is that people rework their understanding of physical violence as a response to imbalanced power dynamics. That’s what Luigi Mangione did, but he did it on his own which is why nothing will come from it other than a political example to the people from the government. It’ll say “If you ever think about doing a fraction of what we do to you back to us, you’ll have fun with one hour of daylight for the rest of your life.”
Instead, let’s talk about building out a group of people who care about the same issues. Then we figure out how to obtain the objectives we’re looking for. Once you can come to terms with physical violence as a natural response and one of many necessary parts of that process, you may feel inclined to think about how the hell you could ever possibly get comfortable with it.
Anarchist Calisthenics
The courage to act is a muscle you must flex to keep in shape. Being ready to act doesn’t happen in a split decision, it involves training. You know it’s true but do you really understand what that means? Anarchist Calisthenics gave me the understanding.
I know y’all HATE when people link other social media here, but PLEASE click that post and watch this video! I’m not bout to say exactly what he said cause he said it so perfectly. :)
Anarchist Calisthenics is the idea that, like any other exercise, you must slowly build up your ability to handle weight and continue working out to stay in shape. But different to physical exercise, Anarchist Calisthenics engages with morally/politically favorable actions that are frowned upon by the state or illegal.
I trust my moral compass MUCH more than I trust the American legal system, okay. There are plenty of laws restricting actions I believe are morally acceptable and vice versa. How you gone tell me I can’t cross the road when there’s no cars coming in any direction??? Fuck your red light I got places to be nigga.
*Interestingly enough I saw a post saying this is something Luigi Mangione expressed a gripe over as well. Go figure.*
Anarchist Calisthenics is also why stealing from large chain stores is a part of my politics. I steal skin care from TK Maxx as a part of my workout regimen.
No I’m actually being serious. I get scared to steal groceries from the store, but I push through that fear to condition myself. Prices are inflated, the employees don’t get paid less, I can’t afford it, so practice this one scary thing that is beneficial to me and my ability to do more important scary things when the time comes.
If it’s not stealing a candy bar from the store, you can try recording someone else’s encounter with the police, you could keep the gates to the subway open to let someone else through for free, shit you could push through the barriers so YOU can ride for free. This is how you can prepare yourself for the moments that matter later on.
I understand the risk varies for different people because of the systems that exist. Pushing yourself slowly to understand what you are capable of is important. I am not saying throw yourself into the deep end. Similar to to physical exercise, that is likely to get you injured.
We must stay ready to resist what we have coming for us, because you are just as much a target as anyone else. Correction: You are likely more of a target than others.
You can absolutely train for this on your own time, but it isn’t until you bring your abilities to merge with others’ that real power culminates. The machine of collective work is absolutely larger than the sum of its parts. The machine of success cannot run without the meticulously placed gears spinning into each other. **Oooo, I love that visual. We come as pieces to a puzzle ready to function but can only be useful together. Awwww, I’m so sentimental. I also love Black people so much so imagine I’m thinking about how much I love Black people :’).**
This is a message for everyone, but there’s a special piece of this message reserved for my thinkers, theorists, and knowledge holders. What are you doing with the knowledge you acquire? The world does not shift because you’ve read the words of those who chose to act. No one likes an armchair activist. Angela Davis, Amílcar Cabral, Walter Rodney have all been subjects of the state based on what they did, not what they thought. Your radical thoughts are worth nothing if you do not practice. So get out there! You hold valuable tools, use them for the function which they were designed otherwise they take the form of strangely shaped figurative paperweights.
Yeah we need to understand the big bad wolves we’re up against, but you also gotta act on what you know my boi. As you warm yourself up to doing new scary actions that push back against the state, simultaneously talk to your neighbors, join community groups and get started on self-determining your needs.
Who knows what could form after that…and when we might need it.
- Carma <3
Thank you for reading “Spit It Out!”. This piece has been in the making for a some time now and I’m glad to have finally finished it chile! If you enjoyed it…
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Commenting half way through this essay because wow!! You’ve put my feelings into words! The celebration of the act will never come from me because I understand that whiteness as a mindset doesn’t see the value other people’s lives. So while I think that Luigi did something to start a larger conversation I can’t get behind the public celebration for him. Black people are killed by the state for much less! Just unfathomable!
If he’d been black, he would been shot dead at the scene of the crime or when he was picked up by law enforcement. And all we would have heard about is when he stole an extra cupcake from the lunch line in 2nd grade, making him a criminal and not a role model of the people. 😕