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A THREAD for White people: you might be thinking "this doesn& #39;t apply to me, I& #39;m not racist because I don& #39;t FEEL racist." but you& #39;re wrong. it& #39;s an uncomfortable conversation but one that we need to have.
in the past year I& #39;ve gained a better understanding of what exactly racism is. how some of even my own words and actions have been (not "could& #39;ve been perceived as.." or "came across as...") -HAVE BEEN, racist. how I& #39;ve enabled microaggressions from my friends, my peers & myself.
and this realization SUCKS!!! for most people - at LEAST speaking for myself - it& #39;s not nice or comfortable in the slightest to accept that anything you& #39;ve done in your life could possibly be racist. this guilt and dissonance can be extremely unsettling. but that& #39;s a GOOD thing.
you can have Black friends and family members still unknowingly perpetuate racism. comments you make can have the best of intentions & still have an incredibly harmful impact. we as White people will never fully understand the impact of our words and actions on people of colour -
- specifically Black people. you can identify as someone committed to justice and equity, and genuinely believe you& #39;re trying to help someone you love, and STILL, whether you know it or want to admit it, be taking the role of a White Saviour.
"but I didn& #39;t mean it that way!" the hard truth is that it doesn& #39;t matter. what matters is how your well-intentioned words can cause harm and even danger. people won& #39;t know or care how you "meant" what they know is how you made them feel. this applies to everything
if you& #39;ve read until now you may be thinking "I don& #39;t like thinking about this; it makes me uncomfortable" - aren& #39;t Black lives worth White discomfort???
it& #39;s normal to get confused and frustrated about this. that& #39;s ALL the more reason to stay informed. be aware when you mess up. take initiative to understand why intent isn& #39;t good enough and what YOU can do to minimize the harmful impact of your own words & actions moving forward.
we MUST acknowledge our White (unearned) privilege and the harmful ways in which it& #39;s been used for progress to be made. we can& #39;t make excuses, rationalize our behaviour or hide behind a self-serving label like Liberal Progressive or Democrat. we MUST hold ourselves accountable.
we can& #39;t be dismissive of issues of racial injustice on the grounds that "we& #39;re one of the good ones" because there are no "good ones" - we have all done harm, whether it has been extreme and overt or taken more subtle and covert form. 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="‼️" title="Double exclamation mark" aria-label="Emoji: Double exclamation mark">this includes when we didn& #39;t mean tohttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="‼️" title="Double exclamation mark" aria-label="Emoji: Double exclamation mark">
we all have learning and growing to do. we have our own mistakes, and the mistakes of our White ancestors, to "make up for" (for lack of a better term). and it& #39;s OKAY to start now!! now is better than never!
we must own up to harmful mistakes we& #39;ve made in the past and vow not to repeat them. we can still engage in anti-racist work while admitting that we have fucked up (and still will) but must learn from it and progress. in my mind, this is a necessary first step.
I felt compelled to write this because I& #39;m not seeing THIS specific conversation being had as much as I feel like it should be. I& #39;m hoping this made something "click" for someone, even just one person, in some way
I am by no means an expert. all of this knowledge has come from tough conversations I& #39;ve had & anti-racism trainings I& #39;ve taken and other resources I& #39;ve viewed as I& #39;ve become increasingly aware of the presence and weight of this issue. #BlackLivesMatter https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">
