Katy Carpenter,
OH.
I recognize that we don’t live in a color blind society, but race is never something I felt was central to my identity, and has no biological base. It never came up until I moved to the Bay Area and people started associating this idea of whiteness as a central component of my identity or what they saw my identity being composed of. After my friends get to know me though, they always come to the same conclusion : “its ok, you don’t act white”, but I sure look it (and I’m left wondering again what these six words mean).
I understand that whiteness has its benefits, and feel guilty that I do not receive the same scrutiny in stores, while driving, or just in my life in general. I think this is an incredibly important conversation to be having, and I will continue to try and understand this conversation on a deeper level. Hopefully some good will come of it-because I am so tired of humans losing their lives.