To just “deal with it,” lest more trouble follow (which sadly, it often does). There are two reasons for this : 1) because not only as a human being do I suppress the painful and uncomfortable in an effort to make it go away, I was also taught within my community (I was raised in the ‘70s & ‘80s – it’s shifted somewhat now) and by society at large NOT to make a fuss, speak out, or rock the boat.
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I truly thank you for wanting to understand what you are having a hard time understanding.Ĭoincidentally, over the last few days I have been thinking about sharing some of the incidents of prejudice/racism I’ve experienced in my lifetime – in fact I just spoke with my sister Lesa about how to best do this yesterday – because I realized many of my friends – especially the white ones – have no idea what I’ve experienced/dealt with unless they were present (and aware) when it happened. I think the heart of what you’ve asked of your friends of color is extremely important and I think my response needs much more space than as a reply on your feed.
First off, I hope you don’t mind that I’ve quoted your post and made it part of mine. I apologize if this comes off as crass or offends anyone.” I’m not trying to be insensitive, I only want to understand (but not from the media). So that I may be enlightened, can you please share with me some examples of institutional racism that have made an indelible mark upon you? If I am to understand this, I need people I know personally to show me how I’m missing what’s going on. I’m not saying I’m colorblind, but whatever racism/sexism/other-ism my life experience has instilled in me stays within me, and is not manifested in the way I treat others (which is not the case with far too many, I know). Despite my treating everyone with respect and humor my entire life (as far as I know), I’m somehow complicit in the misfortune of others. By not being able to fully put myself in the shoes of someone from a background/race/ religion/gender/nationality/body type that differs from my own makes me part of the problem, according to what I’m now hearing.
“To all of my Black or mixed race FB friends, I must profess a blissful ignorance of this “White Privilege” of which I’m apparently guilty of possessing. I feel compelled not only to publish his query but also my response to it, as it may be a helpful discourse for more than just a handful of folks on Facebook. Here’s his post: Yesterday I was tagged in a post by an old high school friend, asking me and a few others a very public, direct question about white privilege and racism. By Lori Lakin Hutcherson, GBN Editor-in-Chief