Editorial: When Being A "Refuge" Isn't Enough
by Mike Lunsford, Editor-In-Chief
In the almost 6 years of off and on operation, we have strived to be a place to ignore the outside world. We want to be that refuge for you where you can read or listen to us talk about the geeky/nerdy things that we love so much and more or less, turn off the outside world. In recent years, our mantra has grown and changed as all of us here at GGR acknowledged the importance of inclusivity in our community. We try to balance this as best we can by being a place where all can feel welcome without the fear of any sort of gatekeeping, racism, sexism or any of the other ugly things that happen more often than they should.
Our world has greatly changed in the last few months. First, it was the coronavirus and subsequent quarantine that came with it. Now we are watching live on TV or social media as there are countless protests across the nation. These protests are in response to another unjustifiable homicide of a person of color at the hands of a police officer. George Floyd may be the most recent, but he is one of an unfortunate many in recent memory who was treated unfairly by law enforcement officials and now is dead. In the last few months we’ve also seen Christian Cooper treated with racist disdain as Amy Cooper admitted that she would lie to the police to try and get him in trouble (and because he was African American, that could have meant his life). We saw the footage of Ahmaud Arbery being followed, accosted and then murdered for doing nothing other than running in his neighborhood and those are just the most recent events that show the awful way people of color are treated on a daily basis. And there are more that we don’t hear about. Breonna Taylor was a black woman killed in her own home by police who broke in even though the suspect they were looking for was already in custody. Sean Reed, a black man killed by police on FB live. Tony McDade, a black trans man killed by police. Atatiana Jefferson was a black woman who was killed in her own home after a neighbor called to have them check on her. Their cases haven't gotten any news coverage so I think they're important to mention but it showcases that these are not isolated incidents.
Black lives matter, ladies and gentlemen. This is not up for debate, this is not a conversation starter, this is not something we will bend or discuss further. If you are ignorant or hateful enough to disagree then this website is not for you. As the editor-in-chief it is my duty to stand up for my people who contribute to this site on a daily basis. People of color have a place here. Racism does not. We stand by the protestors because their voice is not being heard. We stand by the protestors because enough is enough.
We have never done anything on the Great Geek Refuge to purposefully alienate any person, group or community nor will we ever. Racism is not a community, hate is not a group and if you disagree then we will alienate you.