I don't want to see your performative hashtags about justice for Ahmaud Arbery

I’m sure you’ve heard about Ahmaud Arbery by now. Maybe you’ve seen the horrific video of him quite literally getting hunted down and killed; maybe you’ve seen a social media post about it. If not, let me summarize for you. A young, bright black man in Georgia was killed before his time because a black man going on a run made someone feel threatened enough to shoot him, not once, but twice — while filming the whole encounter.

Another day, another unarmed black man shot, another few days of hashtags and armchair activism. I’m tired of writing about it and worried my brother Collin will be next, but I expect no changes. I never do. The shooting of young, unarmed black men is as systemic as lynching; the difference is that these terrible tragedies are now generally caught on camera. The killers, whether civilians or police, are nearly always white men who are excused by the law despite being incriminated in video evidence, and the black bodies are always left lying there, as if to say: “You’re not allowed to go for a run, wear a hoodie, or eat Skittles if you look like me. Nowhere and nothing will ever be safe for you.”

This isn’t just about Ahmaud Arbery, a young man who wanted to enjoy a leisurely jog around his neighborhood and ended up shot twice by a father-son duo who assumed he was robbing cars. I want it to be just about him, but it isn’t. But at this point, outrage when a black man is shot is both privileged and performative. Black mothers are used to telling their sons to immediately make it clear they’re unarmed and not a threat to police. The black community knows that this a routine thing, and prepares for it. But when there’s video, the communities that aren’t as affected by this type of racially directed violence get to see and experience it for themselves. Welcome to our America.

I understand seeing this and wanting to help make a change, but demanding one or two people be forced into accountability, signing a petition, sharing an Instagram story, or retweeting a hashtag will only garner more #JusticeFor hashtags. What good is media outrage when no progressive change is made to keep black bodies safer? Ask Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, or Eric Garner. The list goes on, and it’s been added to year by year. The issue is systemic, and thus, the solution must be as well.

The people have power, especially in numbers. From donating to the electoral opposition of the District Attorney who refused to prosecute Arbery’s killers to taking the issue to your own city council and demanding police wear mandatory body cameras, there are ways to use your resources to help end violence against black men, both by the police and by citizens. You can vote, run for office, canvass, donate, protest, and use your privilege to share and elevate black voices and experiences with hardly any more effort than goes into a retweet. You can make a positive change, but you won’t do that through a passive click on a social media site.

A passive reaction allows nothing to change when the story fades out of the headlines. Justice is a consistent and ongoing effort, one that requires patience, political work, and a considerable amount of emotional labor. Ahmaud Arbery and all the unarmed black men who have been unjustly killed before him, from Emmett Till to Tamir Rice, deserve justice, not just your performative dedication to it online. If you believe that, commit to it — because justice can only truly be achieved if the masses actively demand it.