I’ve realized my own white privilege for some time now. But being the white female half of an interracial marriage, I suddenly experience America in a new frightening way. My husband is a 6’4″ 300 lb black man. I have a plan worked out in my mind of how I can shield his body from police gunfire should I need to. I’m mourning the loss of my innocent and naive view of police in the USA.
Just some ruminations on the issue, as a Local Missourian, and past resident of the town NEXT to Ferguson MO..white, adopted child of full Native American(Cherokee) mother and German-American father…
My partner is a tall, dark muscular black man (with a PHD). When he lived in Texas, the police arrived at a gas station that he was in and tased him 8 times without warning or discussion. My brother (with a degree) has been regularly pulled over. Once, a police officer pulled him over, handcuffed him and put him in the back of his cruiser. Then he searched everywhere for any possible warrant or person whose “description he fit”. In the end, he let him go after about 45 minutes. My brother has never had more than a speeding ticket. When he was pulled over, he was not speeding or violating any traffic rules whatsoever. My cousin (who is a veteran) was pulled over by a city cop on the bridge in St. Louis, MO. It was outside of that cop’s jurisdiction so he had to call the Illinois police so that they could search his car. He had nothing. They found nothing, but they had a gun trained on him nonetheless. I truly feel that there is absolutely nothing that a black man in this nation can do to be safe. If they comply, if they resist, if they are polite, if they are rude… all are irrelevant, because if a policeman has it in his mind that they are criminals, then he will treat them like criminals. No black man in this nation has escaped this treatment. I have serious discussions with my extended family and my partner to move to Canada. The powers-that-be don’t want us here anyway.
I’m part of the “dominant” race with privileges that I did not earn. I’ve been listening and learning about racism a long time, but many times I still “goof up” and say stupid things that hurt the feelings of people of color. I’m really tired of this separation and am willing to continue to be with people and listen and learn. The world is too small and there is so much that we can learn from each other. So let’s all be brave and start telling each other our life stories. I felt encouraged by tonight’s program. I especially need to hear how people across the country are making changes. We can’t ignore the evil of racism among us, but we can’t move forward without visions of hope. Thank you to everyone who took a chance to share their thoughts and dreams on this important PBS program.
During the conversation, once the white guy spoke about self responsibility a lot of black people were visibly upset and I feel, most black people in the audience stopped listening because they were “offended”. The black rapper basically encouraged black people NOT to get involved in government. What if Obama felt that way? Or the people that voted for him did not vote. When rappers could not get record deals they began creating their own labels , rocafella, murder inc, young money, etc. think about it . you have to get power to change things do you fail a class because a teacher does not like you? no! or because she gave someone extra credit and not you? this is fool’s pride. we as black people sometimes let so called pride prevent us from taking advantage of opportunities…I feel like this was the case. He and most blacks had a palpable reaction and it was no longer a two way conversation. It’s ok for a black person to say they weren’t affected by slavery so move on but not for a white person to say it even if it is true.
REPOST from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/gwens-take-making-peace-making-coffee/
Gwen’s Take: Making peace and making coffee BY GWEN IFILL March 20, 2015 at 10:52 AM EDT
I woke up one morning this week to discover that Starbucks had decided to launch a new initiative at its coffee shops, branding their paper cups with a #RaceTogether hashtag and encouraging baristas to chat customers up about race.
My first thought: what an admirable idea.
My second thought: heck no.
So I dashed off this tweet: “Honest to God, if you start to engage me in a race conversation before I’ve had my morning coffee, it will not end well.”
Nearly 400 people retweeted it, which is a fair amount in my Twitter world. But what I found most interesting was the people behind the tweets — black, white, other — who for their own reasons felt Starbucks might be going a step too far. That’s actually not quite the interpretation I intended.
It’s true that I was unsure that empowering someone to goose me into a sensitive conversation at a time of day when I can barely say “Good morning” was a good idea.
But talking about race, I think, is actually quite a good thing. It’s how we do it that matters.
My friend Michele Norris of NPR has been dipping into these waters for some years now with her Race Card Project, an online discussion forum that invites people to talk about race in six words. The stories that emerge from these comments are invariably enlightening, and take us well beyond the racial straitjackets we usually live in.
On St. Patrick’s Day, for instance, the conversation was largely about what it’s like to be Irish. That’s because race is not just about conflict; it’s also about culture.
That’s why a Pakistani friend can laugh when people tell her sister she looks like the Indian actress Mindy Kaling. (She does not.)
It’s why young African Americans don’t laugh when they notice that a white, tattooed alleged mass shooter in Mesa, Arizona, was subdued with a Taser, while a black University of Virginia honor student emerged bloodied and battered — allegedly by apprehending officers — after an altercation outside a bar.
It’s also why, as admirable as it is, the Starbucks plan is a flawed one. A “conversation” about race cannot be a fleeting one. It certainly cannot be an under-caffeinated one. And it is, most importantly, not a black and white one.
Check out the conversation we’ve launched on this website.
It is about the nation we have become, and are in the process of becoming. It is about demography and destiny. It is about the distance we have come, and the distance we have yet to go.
It is not exclusively about conflict, but we seem to only want to have these conversations when conflict forces it out of the closet.
There are so many good ways to talk about this. Yes, at the barista’s counter, but also at our kitchen tables and in the workplace.
So yes, let me get my latte first. But let’s not end it there. I’ll meet you on the road.
Many Different Roads, But All Connected, six words on race and cultural identity by Ethan Tribsh of Marietta, GA. Photo Credit: Cindy Brown Photography
Read more about Michele Norris and Crossing the Racial Divide in Marietta, GA. One Church was founded by slave owners, the other by former slaves.
I’m a white woman. It was a Sunday night right after Ferguson. I had spent a host, sticky day doing chores. When I went to take the used cat litter out to the dumpster, I very obviously swerved out of the path of a black man. All I could think was that I did not want to offend anyone’s nose. A few seconds later I realized what it probably felt like to him and I just wanted to cry. I still feel bad.
People equate young black gang members with crime and trouble… I was watching the PBS special and when the young black guys were speaking I felt they were in gangs and up to no good. You need to change the image of the young male black gang image or you will not make any progress…
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Gwen’s Take: Making peace and making coffee
My friend Michele Norris of NPR has been dipping into these waters for some years now with her Race Card Project, an online discussion forum that invites people to talk about race in six words. The stories that emerge from these comments are invariably enlightening, and take us well beyond the racial straitjackets we usually live in.
Gregory S. Carr,
