This past Saturday, April 5, a friend and I made our way to Downtown Harrisonburg and happened to stumble upon the Harrisonburg Hands Off protest. If you’re not aware, the Hands Off protest was a country-wide protest against the Trump Administration. Reportedly, all 50 U.S. states had at least one Hands Off protest on April 5, and major cities like Washington, DC, New York City, and Atlanta saw thousands of people respond to the call to action, making the Hands Off protest likely the largest display of protests this country has ever seen.

When finding the protest in Downtown Harrisonburg, my friend and I quickly realized that the majority of the participants were white people, specifically older white people. We thought it was incredibly interesting considering the young, college age population Harrisonburg has and the fact that previous protests garnered support from people of various ages and races. However, Harrisonburg is a very white place so we didn’t think too much into it. It wasn’t until later when I saw photos and videos of the Hands Off protests in different areas did I realize that this seemed to be a common theme. It seemed like these protests were filled with white people and it made me wonder why.

Ever since the election, I’ve seen Black people and other minority groups online talking about how they are done giving their everything only for it to not be enough. They’re done protesting and fighting against a system that has continuously been held up by white people who are typically only acting out of their best interests. I would regularly go on social media and see posts and videos of Black people telling members of the community to stop going out to protests and when the Hands Off protest was gaining popularity through word of mouth and social media, many Black people were sharing that “this wasn’t our fight.” 

With this discourse in mind, the demographic makeup of these protests make more sense, but it’s left me wondering, how can this not be our fight? Now, as a Black woman who was a part of the 92% (if you know, you know), I completely understand the sentiment. It’s absolutely exhausting to always be on the right side of history with people not realizing that until it’s too late. It’s absolutely exhausting to know that people don’t value us and only choose to stand up and speak out about things when they begin to be affected by it, but does that mean we should just stop? I’m asking because I genuinely don’t know. As much as I’ve enjoyed sitting back and watching other people, specifically white people, pick up the slack, I can’t shake the fact that unity is what we need in moments like these. 

My conflicting feelings have only grown after seeing the response to these protests. From the coverage I’ve seen of the protests, and the accounts of people online, these protests seemed to have little to no police presence, resulting in the actions being non-violent and peaceful. Now, you can call me crazy, but I genuinely believe that the lack of police presence, and the subsequent lack of violence, was due to the fact that there weren’t a lot of Black people there. This country’s history has shown that whenever Black people get out to protest, we are met with despicable displays of violence from police. In these moments, it’s argued that police are just there to make sure things are running smoothly, but they typically end up being the reason things go awry. So, the fact that these protests across the country were not met with large displays of police presence and violence have shown me that maybe it’s a good thing we (Black people) weren’t there. 

In times like these, I think it’s necessary for us to all care and do what we can to fight against an unjust system. However, I also think that in times like these, it’s up to certain groups to use the privileges they have to fight for the masses. We’re living in scary times and it’s about time that white people use that good ol’ white privilege for something that can help us all. So, while I don’t necessarily agree with the idea that Black people shouldn’t be involved in these actions and movements because it’s “not our fight,” I do believe that there are some moments where we really should take the back seat and let others do the hard work, and the Hands Off protests were a great example of this.