It’s up to us
Photo by Cooper Baumgartner on Unsplash
I believe we are all equally valued and valuable, regardless of our skin color, and that our thoughts, behaviors, and actions determine our character. I emulate this in my daily life, I demonstrate my belief in equality to my child and other family members, and I associate with others who share these beliefs. I live in a neighborhood that is mostly white, but the people of color who live in my area are treated with respect, to the best of my knowledge. I have family members who are people of color, but we’ve never had a conversation about their experiences through the lens of racism. My friends of color, until recently, have never spoken to me about experiences of being treated unfairly. I have had the privilege of being unaware of the insidious racism that still exists in this country. And as such, I can see that I am not able to advocate for people of color. And perhaps that means that I have been part of the problem, because I also have not, until now, recognized how I have unintentionally benefitted from a system that inherently favors people with my skin color.
In May of 2020 I watched the video showing the arrest of Mr. Floyd. I sobbed in grief for the loss of his life, for the loss of respect for fellow humans, for the absence of humanity that was evident in that officer’s expressionless face. I showed the video to my son. We spoke about how this is not an isolated incident, even though it doesn’t happen where we live. We spoke about the proper way to treat people, especially people of color, and about speaking up for them when we need to. This is a conversation that must and will be ongoing.
I am open to learning more from my family members and friends of color, their experiences, and how I can help going forward. I want to be better and do better in this regard; I am going to educate myself on the prevalence of racism and how I can be more antiracist.
I do hope you’ll join me, because it’s up to us to stop these injustices by first having the courage to look within and identify our blind spots around these critical issues, and then to take action in service of our fellow humans. Because there’s no hope for a human race that continues to see itself as separate.
Love, Karianne