Pat Williams,
Syracuse, NY

I was born in Syracuse, New York in 1958 to a lower middle class white family. I attended integrated city schools during the late 1960’s racial unrest. Interestingly, the older we students became the more we self segregated. In the lunch room there were the white tables, the black tables, and the Native American table (pretty much an invisible table). As I age, and with the death of George Floyd in 2020 as an impetus, I began to open my ears, eyes, and mind to white supremacy and systemic racism. I have read and read and read to discover the experiences of other people. I am appalled at all we did not learn in school. I have now learned about tragedies such as the Tulsa massacre and the “Indian Boarding Schools” along with the racial discrimination issues of redlining, loss of generational wealth, unjust incarceration, and on and on and on. Please read Equal Justice by Bryan Stevenson. Please read Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Read the several wonderful young adult books out there that give people a view of society as it stands today. I try to uncover my racial bias. I see my white privilege. I am an aspiring anti-racist. Please join me.