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Dear white friends:
I feel like I need to say something.
And also: I feel like I don’t know what good “saying something” actually does.
Because I’ve “said something” before:
“This isn’t right!”
“This has to stop!”
“Black Lives Matter!”
but here we are, still living in a society in which …
And also: I feel like I don’t know what good “saying something” actually does.
Because I’ve “said something” before:
“This isn’t right!”
“This has to stop!”
“Black Lives Matter!”
but here we are, still living in a society in which …
… Black people are unjustly killed at a disproportionally high rate by police (George Floyd)
… people of color are gunned down in cold blood by white supremacists (Ahmaud Arbery)
… people of color are gunned down in cold blood by white supremacists (Ahmaud Arbery)
… Black folks are targeted by white people who weaponize a system that they know protects whiteness while seeing and treating POC with suspicion and violence (Christian Cooper)
… and these are just a *few* of the stories from only the last couple of days & weeks.
… and these are just a *few* of the stories from only the last couple of days & weeks.
Not to mention the less made-for-tv-dramatic, but every bit as devastating, suffering & death inflicted on Black & brown people due to systemic inequities in health care, wages, working conditions, housing, air/water quality, education, banking … this list could go on & on & on.
All the “saying something” in the world hasn’t changed a damn thing.
“Saying something” is starting to feel like the equivalent of “standing by and doing nothing.”
“Saying something” is starting to feel like the equivalent of “standing by and doing nothing.”
You know who else “stood by and did nothing?”
The three police officers who watched their co-worker kneel on George Floyd’s neck while he uttered his last words, “I cannot breathe.”
The three police officers who watched their co-worker kneel on George Floyd’s neck while he uttered his last words, “I cannot breathe.”
I feel like I need to say something,
... but as long as I’m living in a society that benefits people with white skin, like me,
at the cost of violence and suffering and death targeted at people with black and brown skin,
and I’m not *doing actual work* to change that system,
... but as long as I’m living in a society that benefits people with white skin, like me,
at the cost of violence and suffering and death targeted at people with black and brown skin,
and I’m not *doing actual work* to change that system,
... then my “saying something” is a bunch of garbage.
It might serve to make me feel good for a minute,
might make me feel like I’m on the right side of history,
might give me a momentary reason to give myself a nice little pat on the back,
It might serve to make me feel good for a minute,
might make me feel like I’m on the right side of history,
might give me a momentary reason to give myself a nice little pat on the back,
… but I’m coming to understand that it’s as good as standing by & doing nothing.
Look. Our system was founded on racism.
It’s still a racist system.
As a white person, I benefit from that system.
If I’m serious, if we’re serious at all,
about saying we want a just world,
Look. Our system was founded on racism.
It’s still a racist system.
As a white person, I benefit from that system.
If I’m serious, if we’re serious at all,
about saying we want a just world,
then it’s up to me — it’s up to US, fellow white people — to change it.
How? Well, I think it starts with listening.
I think it starts with learning what racism inside of me needs to be undone.
I think it starts with humility and a desire to change myself.
How? Well, I think it starts with listening.
I think it starts with learning what racism inside of me needs to be undone.
I think it starts with humility and a desire to change myself.
And to put my hands to work to change the system.
The author of the book pictured at the top of this thread, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, said this:
“If we are not actively working to be anti-racist,
then we are racist.”
Read that again.
The author of the book pictured at the top of this thread, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, said this:
“If we are not actively working to be anti-racist,
then we are racist.”
Read that again.
I just ordered his book. I want to learn what it is that I need to do to be an anti-racist.
I challenge every one of my white friends here to join me.
If you accept the challenge, let me know in the replies.
No more “saying something.” It’s time to do something.
I challenge every one of my white friends here to join me.
If you accept the challenge, let me know in the replies.
No more “saying something.” It’s time to do something.
