i have been intentionally cautious when it comes to posting lately bc i know how impactful words can be… but i feel inclined to share some thoughts. my hope for humanity and my fellow white people is that we are capable of sharing thought provoking ideas in a valuable and peaceful space. if you have any questions or concerns regarding anything here, please let me know and i would truly love to connect.
white friends, have you found ways to invest your time, money, energy into the black lives matter movement? have some of your pre-existing morals and thoughts on racism/anti-racism changed at all? i can openly admit mine has. to be honest i once felt pretty good about where i stood on the matter, however it is clear to me now that it is not enough and never was. it’s okay to show up *imperfectly*, it’s okay to speak up even if you don’t have all the ‘right’ words, bc if you’re white you will NOT have the right words. we will not have the answers, that is not our job. we listen and learn. and no i’m not perfect- I too, have had to do reflect and ask myself the same questions and make changes.
WE (white people) must sit UNCOMFORTABLY for a moment. maybe a long time! if you have been in a racial debate this week, defending your ‘racism’ or racial position/point of view by someone of the BLM community or BLM activist, i hope you will take time to reflect.
now, i get it, a lot of us here in small town america weren’t offered the ‘proper’ amount of resources growing up. *EXCUSE* it wasn’t really taught in our schools. *EXCUSE* it wasn’t even talked about in many of our homes- sad and true, but *EXCUSE* let’s be a better generation. we can change and grow NOW. it’s way too late, but better right now than never. can you disagree with that??
i’ve seen a lot of people stilllll say ‘equality’, ‘all lives matter’ or ‘we are all created equal’… but the thing is, we are NOT ALL treated equally nor giving equal rights/justice. which leads me to ‘white privilege’. white privilege doesn’t mean your life hasn’t been hard. it means the color of your skin is not the cause of your struggles. i’m not interested in hearing your stories as a defensive mechanism or an excuse for why you can’t stand up for black lives.
and before you start crying taking this personally- yes, EVERYONE deserves to be safe, healthy and able to live their lives without fear of violence/harm, and white-led organizations like ours must be a part of speaking up and taking action. the over-policing of black bodies extends far beyond the actions of individual police officers. it is in our workplaces, our schools, our public institutions. It is in our healthcare system. racism permeates every structure in our society.
‘white fragility’: the defensive reaction white people have when when their ideas about race are challenged. sociologist, robin diangelo also describes white fragility as a state in which even a minimal amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. these moves include an outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, guilt, and behaving argumentatively and leaving the stress-induced situation.
i hope we’re all getting uncomfortable, and i hope we are also uncomfortable for our children so that we raise them to know better than we did. they deserve that, but more importantly this is about the black children who deserve to grow up with better supporters, without living in continued years of systemic racism. it ALL starts at home, within our walls. i will teach my children that equality is not enough, we must do more- we will celebrate and honor diversity in our home.
images from mcalester solidarity walk on june 4th, 2020
🤟🏻🤟🏼🤟🏽🤟🏾🤟🏿
#blacklivesmatter
#riseup
xo,
katy
