I want to begin by saying that I have such a long way to go here.
I grew up White in a small Arizona town. I didn’t begin to comprehend Whiteness and white privilege until five years ago. I’m 62 years old. I feel deeply uncomfortable investigating my racism and talking about racism. I’m not good at it. Oh well.
If you, like me, want to educate yourself, I found this post helpful. In her post, Katie Anthony, a White woman, explains why good White women’s common responses on social media to incidents such as the one in Central Park on May 25th are actually racist anti-racism. Then Katie tells us what to say instead: “I’m sorry.” “I see you.” “That’s awful.”
The book she recommends, So You Want to Talk about Race, is available here.
I’m sorry. I see you. That’s awful.
Healing is often uncomfortable. So be it.
~Barb
Yes, I saw her post, too, Barb.
These are incendiary times as evidenced from the riots currently across y/our country in response to the murder of George Floyd, and I think, too, the earlier incident in Central Park, and the ongoing racism resulting in deaths of our BIPOC kin.
Being of a similar age, and race, I, too, have much unpacking, relearning to do.