justice Archives - The Race Card Project

Our privilege blinds us from reality

October 15, 2024 Christmas, Debanhi Garza, Fort Worth, justice, marginalized, pirvilege, school, TX

Debanhi Garza,
Fort Worth, TX

I chose these six words to make a reflection on how being privileged can disconnect us from the experiences of marginalized groups. I use the word “Our”, because I believe having privilege is being able to go to school, have a roof under your head, and seeing Christmas gifts under the tree during holidays. These six words tell us that those with privilege will overlook certain struggles, leading them to be not very understanding. It emphasizes how crucial it is to recognize our advantages and the need for empathy. Also to have awareness about race and social justice.

White Guy on Journey Toward Justice

November 9, 2023November 9, 2023 John Reiff, justice, MA, Pelham, privilege, white folks, white guy, white man

John Reiff,
Pelham, MA

Like most White folks, I was oblivious to my White privilege for a large part of my life, even though I believed racism was wrong. For the past 20 years I’ve been exploring the beliefs, attitudes, feelings and behaviors woven into my White identity, working to undo them in me and to find ways to act against racism in the systems I’m part of.

Divide in America demands one listen

July 17, 2023July 18, 2023 Arlington, Aspen X, conversations, divide, frustrated, High School, identity, justice, label, listen, Microaggressions, Race, USA, VA, white fragility, white privilege

When I entered high school, I quickly learned terms like white privilege, white fragility, and microaggressions, which challenged my identity. While I understood I benefited from white privilege, I did not like the label. Still, the racism embedded in our institutions and the frustrated feelings of my friends motivates me to want to be part of the conversation. If I want to be able to meaningfully address the social justice issues in our society, I need to understand race.

Just Do It, Stand For Justice

September 9, 2021September 9, 2021 Aaliyah Blankenship, being black, Just do it, justice, OK, stand for, strong and black, Tulsa

Aaliyah Blankenship,
Tulsa, OK

I’m Soooooo Happy To Be BLACK!!!! 💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽

Awareness: ONLY the FIRST BIG step

July 22, 2021July 22, 2021 awareness, big step, culture, Eden Prairie, environment, journey, justice, learning, MN, multicultural, Race, racism, world, Yzolde Chepokas

Yzolde Chepokas,
Eden Prairie, MN.

Going through this process of learning about race, racism, culture, multiculturalism, diversity, and so on, I have come to the conclusion that being aware of the world outside of my own world is only the beginning of this journey of supporting social justice. As this change occurs within myself it gets projected toward my environment. So many things I just didn’t know.

Privilege cripples; step out, run naked.

July 1, 2021July 15, 2021 Akron, benefit, circle, cripple, inequality, justice, naked, OH, privilege, skin color, step-out, Tannya Forcone, truck, yellow

Tannya Forcone,
Akron, OH.

My truck isn’t allowed to go faster on the freeway because it’s yellow. Why should my skin color allow me any other benefit? Privilege is embarrassing. Inequality causes our society to stagger in a circle, never moving forward toward justice.

Altering historical truth enslaves us all

June 16, 2021 altered, historical truth, history, justice, KY, New Haven, Tess Schorz, understood

Tess Schorz,
New Haven, KY

At the rate our world is devolving, we will repeat past atrocities but all in the name of political correctness and justice. Be careful how you tread my friends because in your efforts to eradicate the monster, you will become the monster. Human nature cannot be altered, only understood. To understand you cannot justify what is wrong in the name of righteousness; those mistakes have already been made. One cannot judge the past by present standards. The past can only be understood by understanding the cultural norms of that time period….across the world and across generations. The present can only evolve by understanding how today’s conditions arose and applying alternative solutions…not by identifying new monsters and slaying them with the same hate, suppositions, and stereotypes used in the past. One color accusing and belittling the other only allows for the destruction of the rainbow and no pot of gold will ever be found. I am white, proud of my heritage, proud of my country, a Christian, a conservative…and not a racist, a bigot, and all the other “…ists” that I am being called the past several years. Absolutely none of my friends and acquaintances who are white carry ill will in their hearts for others of different colors or backgrounds. I am a white, divorced, mid fifties woman living on a very small income. I am a former school teacher working in healthcare and taking care of my disabled brother. Even though my life is hard, I do not blame anyone nor do I expect handouts. I work 12 hour days on minimal pay without healthcare. I live paycheck to paycheck. I am still grateful for what I have. I understand that others may have more things and more money but I do not hate them for having more; nor do I blame them for me having less. The world is fill of inequity in many forms. Most folks in this world just want to survive each day to see the next. Most are not wealthy. Most do not live here in the states. Most are not white. Most believe in a god of some sort. We may not all look alike…thank goodness…but most of us have the same goals. Perhaps if we focus on how we are alike rather than how we are different, we can all arrive at the destinations of peace and tranquility.

Privileged, What exactly does that MEAN?!?

June 7, 2021June 8, 2021 AL, Black is Beautiful, black population, black student, brown, class, Huntsville, Janet Davis, justice, pale, Red Hair, school, South, student, teacher

Janet Davis,
Huntsville, AL.

I live in the South where we have always had a larger black population as long as I can remember & we have always gotten along. It’s insulting when I see so many people talking about the Southern states being such a hotbed of racists. No place is perfect, but I doubt the South is worse than other places I’ve seen. And stop saying reverse racism doesn’t exist, it does. I have redhair and am very pale, I lost track of the # of times black students in my high school classes, would sing-song in front of the other students mind you & aimed at me exclusively because I was so pale the following rhyme:

Black is beautiful,
Brown is tan,
Your white skin is ugly like the Klu Klux Klan.

No one has a right to torment others because of the roll of the hereditary dice. No matter what another white person has done to you, you have no right to take it out on every white person you see. That makes about as much sense as a white person taking out their prejudice on all blacks they see. I was a shy, quiet student who kept to myself & I was taunted & teased because of something I had no control over, my skin color. Because I’m white, it’s considered justice. If I were black, people would be angry.

It’s a distinction that few are willing to recognize or understand & immediately dismiss. To many, Black People attacking white people is justice, despite the fact that the white person being attacked likely has a 0% chance of having ANYTHING to do with what they’re angry about.

If we are going to discuss race, it helps if we are being honest with ourselves. The saying, “ Two wrongs don’t make a right?” Why doesn’t it apply here? I’m tired of being accused of things because of something I had nothing to do with, my skin color. I also have a son & as he is a white male, he is public enemy #1, for no other reason than the fact that he is white & male. The fact that this is an acceptable train of thought by a lot of white, feminist Americans is really sad to me. They want my son to fail for those 2 reasons, both being things he couldn’t control.

If you’re Colombian, you have drugs

May 19, 2021 Alondra Cabrera, Colombian, Columbia, drugs, IL, justice, stereotype

Alondra Cabrera,
Justice, IL

Growing up in the United States after my parents immigrated here from Colombia, hasn’t been easy. They’ve been questioned for drug possession just for coming from a Country who once exported drugs. Many people see Colombia as a drug country, but
Colombia is so much more. Colombia is family and unity. Colombia is home.

I can’t look away anymore. JUSTICE!

November 2, 2020November 2, 2020 america, Berea, Beth Feagan, country, default, equity, hostile, injustica, justice, KY, look away, normal, Opression, supremacy, white folks

Beth Feagan,
Berea, KY

White folks have the luxury of not thinking about race, and that’s a problem. We are coded as “normal” or “default” in America, but that’s a part of white supremacy. It’s possible to construct a white identity that is in solidarity with people of color, and that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m scared for my friends and colleagues who identify as people of color. Our country is so hostile to them, and I want them to be safe and feel beloved. It’s up to all of us, especially white folks, to bring about racial healing in America. We can’t expect the survivors of oppression to fix the conditions that perpetuate thier oppression. We CAN listen to them, find out what they need, follow their leadership, and work together for equity and justice. I’m trying my best to be part of the solution, not part of the problem of racial injustice in America.

Justice for all requires White awakening.

July 2, 2019July 2, 2019 Albert Marten, awakening, embarrassed, equal justice, justice, San Antonio, Trinity University, TX, white

Albert Marten,
San Antonio, TX.
Trinity University

I’m ashamed and embarrassed to admit how unaware I was as a white person about the hate, the daily indignities, and in many cases, the physical terror suffered by my fellow citizens because of the color of their skin. The failure of my country to live up to the ideals of equality and equal justice before the law is a source of constant pain. I want for all kids what I want for my own; a country making good on its promises.

Equity is nice. Justice is better!

April 2, 2019August 19, 2020 better, culture, Detroit, dominant, EduTechDiva, equity, injustice, justice, marginalized, MI, skin, USA, Wayne State

EduTechDiva,
Wayne State,
Detroit, MI

Equality is not good enough. Equity is what most are striving for now, but justice is what’s necessary and way too many folks are afraid of what this actually means. It might mean that those who’ve had the institutionally established ‘upper hand’ for a while now, experience the injustices that marginalized people have at the hands of dominant culture for far too long. Wonder what allies are willing to put THAT much skin in the game…

Terrified, we watched them set fires

January 29, 2019January 29, 2019 Catholic, Irish Catholic, justice, PA, Philadelphia, pittsburgh, Sarah Martinez-Helfman, window

Sarah Martinez-Helfman,
Philadelphia, PA

Every key decision I made in my life seems to go back to that defining moment, when I walked away from a racist joke. That triggered years of violence from my neighbors. Marybeth beat me with the stick of a rake and chipped my tailbone of which I’m reminded every time I sit for too long. Eric shot bb’s at me through my bedroom window. Several of my classmates pressed me up against the school lockers as they shouted, “It’s the kike’s birthday” down the halls. I lost my friends and my sense of safety. But it was the fires that stand-out in memory. Each night, my brother and I would sit in the dark at my parent’s bedroom window with a view of the driveway and front yard. There we would wait in silence for our neighbors to set fires or to paint swastickas on the garage door just below us. I would later come to learn that the kindling for these fires was stoked by my Mom’s organizing during the McGovern Presidential campaign. African Americans would regularly come to our home in the all-White Pittsburgh suburbs, where most of our neighbors were Irish Catholic. When neighbors called a meeting to ask my Mom whether she would ever sell her house to an African American family, (she said, “yes”), the embers got hotter and sparks flew. I was attacked for what made me different – being Jewish – but it was really born of racism. It was a couple of years later, after I ran away from that joke, that the fires visited us regularly. The first one, on the night of that joke, burned our yard sign for county commissioner into the shape of a cross. It got worse from there.

Now I carry that fire — for racial justice — within me. I have dedicated my life to race equity and inclusion, a life full of purpose that I wouldn’t trade it with anyone.

(I tried to upload a photo from when I was in 5th grade, age 11yrs., wearing a McGovern pin. It is a 77KB JPG format but would not upload)

Fight for God’s kingdom on Earth

October 30, 2018October 30, 2018 earth, God, justice, kingdom, Opression, peace, Rachel, USA

Rachel,
USA.

We must not be complicit in oppression. Come let us follow the Lamb who has conquered sin and death to bring justice and peace.

Evolve beyond one’s name; embrace Justice.

May 17, 2018May 17, 2018 beyond, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, ct, descendant, Dredd Scott, embrace, evolve, John Charles Taney IV, justice, Stamford

John Charles Taney IV
Stamford, CT

I am a descendant of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (pronounced Taw-nee), author of one of the most universally denounced US Supreme Court cases in history, the Dredd Scott decision. He was also the first Catholic to ever serve on the Court, but whatever good he did was overshadowed by his terrible words regarding African Americans, and the institution of slavery. I write this today not to defend my ancestor, but rather to celebrate my family’s evolution away from the attitudes of the past, and towards an inclusive, egalitarian and progressive present & future. My grandfather would constantly remind me that the journey itself is many times just as valuable as the destination, and that our family’s generational journey is no different. Though we don’t know how we’ll end up, or where exactly the “destination” will be, but we do know that it’ll be inclusive of all God’s children, existing in an evolved state of justice and peace.

Human nature doesn’t change; people do!

April 27, 2018 Allen, change, civility, education, fairness, human nature, I am not a racist, justice, opportunity, People, Racist, reason, Rolando R. Gutierrez, TX

Rolando R. Gutierrez,
Allen, TX.

I am not a racist. I am a humanist. We all have the same faults including the minority defense of the racist card. The majority does not call it racist. It is called law and order. We all exercise it when in the majority. Here is another six words: Reason, civility, fairness, justice, is education! The problem: Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day; teach him how to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime. Problem is half of us do not want to learn how to fish! Too much work and effort. So now we know where the problem is. Not racism, education! And no it is not for lack of opportunity; it is lack of want.

We shouldn’t need to fear each other

February 27, 2018 adult, CA, comfort zone, Corona, exclude, fear, girl, Jen, justice, Korean, little firl, outside the group

Jen,
Corona, CA.

What would it take for us to coexist in love? I am Korean and since I was a little girl, I’ve seen peers and adults look down on me or exclude me for my color. I see people cry for justice, and yet they still feel uncomfortable associating themselves with people outside of their group. It’s time people step out of their comfort zone.