This is the America we have always been.

Time to actually make it the America you always thought it was.

When black people were enslaved and First Nations people were removed forcibly and bloodily from their land, that was America.

When only white male landowners could vote, that was America.

When people of Chinese descent were vilified in the 1800s, that was America

When black women were experimented on by a gynecologist and black men were given syphilis on purpose, that was America.

When we took Hawaii by coup, that was America.

Whenever we placed resources for white people over lives of people of color, that was America.

When sodomy was put on the law books to demonize gay men, that was America.

When we prevented gay and lesbian couples from marrying until recently, that was America.

When people chose "Christianity" over baking a cake for a wedding, that was America.

If you think America is where "all men are equated equal," then please remember that should actually include a black trans atheist disabled woman, too. We are either all equal or some of us are inequal. The inequities show.

If this is where we search for life, liberty, and the pursuit of justice - that justice needs to be given to someone that doesn't deserve to get shot in the back for suspicion of a misdemeanor while black.

(had to put the kids to bed)

And America knows who she is - which is why text book companies sugar coat our history when it is taught to our children.

We should've known about Tulsa 1921 before it was referenced in a TV show.

But it isn't too late.

It will never be too late to strive to be who we hope we are.

But we have to want it.

And we have to make it happen.

There are too many forces that want it to stay just how it has always been.

And I don't say any of this because I hate white people.

Some of my favorite people are white people!

But whiteness in this country comes with privilege...and responsibility to own our past to make the future better for everyone.