What are the impediments to dismantling systems of injustice?
Why are conversations about race so difficult?
When I'm held accountable for my 1) racist 2) privileged or 3) non-ally behaviors it's painful and so easy to get defensive.
When my identity is challenged it feels threatening and it is difficult to press on.
However, when I pan back and take myself out of it, I can see that the person holding me accountable is giving me a tremendous amount of love, grace, and TRUST. Because if I didn't matter to them, they never would have trusted me with this conversation. If they didn't believe that I wanted to do better, they wouldn't have brought the incident to my attention -- they would have written me off.
If I can remember that this is about love and trust, it can shift the whole thing.
I can process the experience (away from the person who brought it to me) and return to the person to try and repair.
We're so unaccustomed to having our core identities challenged or shown to us in unfamiliar light that it feels like more than we can bear.
If we remember that this is an act of courage, love, and trust, it can be an amazing opportunity for growth, building our relationship, and healing something that was broken.
Reading Resources
Ta-Nehisi Coatesâ article, The Case for Reparations
Van Jonesâ article, âBlack People âLootâ Food..White People âFindâ Foodâ
Books
The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander
Caught, Marie Gottschalk
Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo
Me and White Supremacy, by Layla F. Saad
Uprooting Racism, How White People Can Work for Racial Justice, Paul Kivel
Shelly Tochluk, Witnessing Whiteness
Race and the Conspiracy of Silence: Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race, Derald Wing Sue
So You Want to Talk About Race Ijeoma Oluo
Where to give money or time:
NAACP
Southern Poverty Law Center
Dream Defenders
Black Youth Project 100
National Bail Fund
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