SO MUCH YES. I've said for a long time that racism is a spectrum, and most if not all white people fall somewhere on it. If we could stop trying so hard to defend the idea that we're "not racist" we could focus more on moving to the right end of the spectrum.
SEVERAL years ago, I was meeting someone off Craigslist to buy concert tickets- in a well-lit, busy, public parking lot. A black man in a hoodie came walking in my direction and my immediate thought was, "Oh my god- he lured me here to kidnap me."
WHAT THE FUCKITY FUCK. (the man kept walking..he was not my seller and couldn't give two fucks about me.)
What a wake up call for me to realize how ignorant and racist my thought process was. Being born and bred in a small, white, ass-backward racist town didn't help that, but I AM AN ADULT WITH A FUNCTIONING BRAIN, and the work is on me to rewire brain into a more sensible one.
When I shared that story with some people later, (with the goal of my story being to say, "wow..how fucked up of me,") you wouldn't (or probably would,) believe the number of people that came in with comments like, "It's okay that you felt that way- I would've, too..." blah blah blah- NO. It's not.
While I didn't do anything that caused harm, thoughts become words become actions. I don't believe that some police officers show up hoping to shoot unarmed black people, but guess what- the thoughts they have in their brains lead them to irrational fear, and irrational, scared people with guns don't mix.
Thank you for writing this.
Love. This.
Yes yes yes
Absolutely spot on. You are a dead set legend.
I love you! In this crazy, hateful world, I know I can rely on your page to be the voice of reason and a place of safety. Thank you
Thank you so much for this
Thank you
SO MUCH YES. I've said for a long time that racism is a spectrum, and most if not all white people fall somewhere on it. If we could stop trying so hard to defend the idea that we're "not racist" we could focus more on moving to the right end of the spectrum.
SEVERAL years ago, I was meeting someone off Craigslist to buy concert tickets- in a well-lit, busy, public parking lot. A black man in a hoodie came walking in my direction and my immediate thought was, "Oh my god- he lured me here to kidnap me."
WHAT THE FUCKITY FUCK. (the man kept walking..he was not my seller and couldn't give two fucks about me.)
What a wake up call for me to realize how ignorant and racist my thought process was. Being born and bred in a small, white, ass-backward racist town didn't help that, but I AM AN ADULT WITH A FUNCTIONING BRAIN, and the work is on me to rewire brain into a more sensible one.
When I shared that story with some people later, (with the goal of my story being to say, "wow..how fucked up of me,") you wouldn't (or probably would,) believe the number of people that came in with comments like, "It's okay that you felt that way- I would've, too..." blah blah blah- NO. It's not.
While I didn't do anything that caused harm, thoughts become words become actions. I don't believe that some police officers show up hoping to shoot unarmed black people, but guess what- the thoughts they have in their brains lead them to irrational fear, and irrational, scared people with guns don't mix.
We have to work to get our heads right.
Thank you, Zawn.
Thanks Zawn 😊
Every bit of this