Submitted Photo Dr. Nyle Fort discussed many topics with SUNY Fredonia students during a Zoom talk last week.

State University of New York at Fredonia students and interested community members had the opportunity to learn about Critical Race Theory, protests, democracy, and other issues from Dr. Nyle Fort. Fort gave a Zoom talk entitled “Black in America” last week, and shared stories and knowledge from his experience growing up.

Fort began by telling a story about his mother, who is a mortician in New Jersey. He said his mother would come home every night, after a day of consoling grieving families, and would sneak into Fort and his sibling’s room to tell stories. The stories his mother would tell were influential to Fort, and provided him and his siblings with an escape from their reality.

“I doubt my mom kept up with unemployment statistics, she knew that in our neighborhood that if you’re young Black and poor, it’s easier to find a gun than a job,” Fort said. “But in my mother’s stories, we were free to dream, free to be, free to fly above the turbulent winds of racial injustice. During the day, my brother and I may have been seen as statistics, but at night time, we were free.”

While Fort isn’t sure his mother knew the extent of what she was protecting them from, she knew how hard the struggle could be. Fort, who has his degree from Princeton, came prepared with statistics. He said the United States has about 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of the incarcerated population of the world. Fort also said that every 28 hours, a Black person in America is killed by a police officer or vigilante.

“She knew not to let me leave the house without warning me 15 times to be careful,” he said. “I just turned 32 and every time I leave the house, she still tells me to be careful.”

But the story that matters most is the story this country tells, according to Fort. A number of states have introduced bills that instruct teachers on how to teach racism, but some states are also expanding how to teach racism, which all comes back to Critical Race Theory.

“Critical Race Theory moves beyond understanding race as individual prejudice, and instead shows how racism is a social construct, impacting every aspect of American society,” he said. “Including housing, education, health care, the economy and the criminal justice system.”

Fort continued, telling the story of Dr. Martin Luther King, and how the Dr. King that is taught in schools is not anything close to the Dr. King who actually existed. He then gave more statistics detailing injustices Black Americans face, using financial numbers from his home state of New Jersey.

“The average net worth of a white family in the state of New Jersey is $270,000, it’s the highest in the nation,” said Dr. Fort. “According to the same report, the average income for a Black family is $5,900. You might have heard these stories… Black people don’t work hard, it’s our culture, it’s the hoodies, it’s the music, white people are just more frugal with their money. The only problem with these stories is that they’re just stories.”

As to how white people can help the cause, Fort said the first step is realizing supremacy is bad for everyone. Fort said people often think of racism as only bad for Black people, but that isn’t the case, and more people realizing it’s not the case will be pivotal in how society evolves beyond the current structure.

“Politically, most white people don’t benefit from white supremacy that much,” he said. “If you look at the history of racism, there’s a reason why Italians, Irish people, and Jewish people weren’t considered white at one point in this country. A part of the need for these European ethnic groups to become white was the potential for Black people and European ethnic communities to build solidarity against the elite was a dangerous possibility. So, what do you do? You graft them into this category of whiteness… There’s a lot of poor white people, and you know who they vote for every four years? Someone who does not help them.”

Dr. Fort ended his talk by encouraging attendees to assess what stories their lives are telling, and to dream of the world they want to see grow in the future. “What story is your life telling? What story is our lives telling? What will people say about us when we’re done?” he said. “Will they say we drove nice cars and graduated from top schools? Will they say we were eloquent but silent on the most pressing moral issues of our time, or will they say we spoke truth to power and stood in solidarity in the most vulnerable times?

“Dream of a world where Ahmaud Arbery can jog in peace, where Tamir Rice can play at the park and George Floyd can live to see his daughter grow up,” he continued. “A world where Muslims, and Jews, and Christians can live and pray in peace. Dream of a world where queer and transgender people are safe to walk the streets and use the bathrooms of their choice. Dream of a world where women are not subject to less pay for more work. Dream of a world where Black lives matter and every life matters. Dream of a world where walls are built to house the poor and not to criminalize poverty.”

David White, SUNY Fredonia’s director of Multicultural Support Services at Fredonia, was thankful that Fort was able to speak to the school’s students and community members, as the topics discussed are ever prevalent with what’s going on in the United States.

“Dr. Fort, inspirational, enlightening,” said White. “We thank you.”