As a white woman of privilege and the descendant of Confederate slave owners, I am ashamed and horrified by the continued police murders of black men and women. That peaceful protesters are being tear-gassed and attacked by quasi-military troops for the exercise of their first amendment rights is similarly disgusting. I lay much of the blame at the feet of #45 and the cohort who bows to his immoral will for domination, including spineless and corrupt politicians, greedy billionaire and millionaire backers, and all the people who still believe these actions Make America Great Again.
I would love to say that this is not my America and he is not my president, but neither are true, unfortunately. He was elected via the electoral college (though not the popular vote, because of GOP gerrymandering) and the racial hatred and violence spewing forth is at the very heart of the American idea of capitalism and exceptional individualism. BIPOC activists and writers have said it better than me and we should listen to their words, not mine here.
I write to acknowledge my own complicity in systemic racism as well as my personal incidents of acting from internalized racism. I have clutched my purse when I've seen a black man at night on the street; I didn't go to the 8th-grade dance with a black friend because I worried what others would say; I've locked my car doors when pulling up to a corner with a black man on it. But as a friend says, I know better now so I do better. I am sorry for my thoughts and actions in the past. I will do better.
I am staying in touch with the news, beginning to read Ta-Nehisi Coates's Between the World and Me, and protesting peacefully when the opportunity arises, as it did on Saturday in my town.
Enough is Enough.
If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
No Justice, No Peace.
Black Lives Matter.
