I just finished watching a documentary piece covering the horrific events that took place this past weekend in Charlottesville. The video interviewed leaders of the white supremacy group. It was disturbing to my core. I am sick to my stomach. It was hard to finish watching and hard to fathom that there are people in our country who think that way. I want to sit and cry.
I wanted to turn it off. A part of me wants to go back to living in my bubble. Part of me wants to pretend that I didn't see it and that it isn't happening, but I can't. I've done that for too long. I need to write about it, I need to do something about it. My white privilege allows me to walk away from the conversation, to say no I don't want to be uncomfortable. To go back to my life.
I feel vulnerable writing about it. What if I say the wrong thing? What if I don't get it right. What if I don't find the words to express what I'm thinking and feeling? But I, and too many others, have remained silent. I've chosen to play it safe, to let others engage while I sat on the sidelines feeling sad and overwhelmed. Afraid to use my voice, afraid to speak my truth. As long as I wasn't outwardly being racist than I didn't really need to say or do anything more right? What I've come to decide is that ignoring it is just as bad as supporting it. That silence is compliance.
Author, Glennon Doyle, expressed her thoughts in a Facebook post. Here is an excerpt from her post.
"It is no longer enough (it has never been enough) for white America to pat ourselves on the back because - at least we are not marching skinheads. No, we all have to get very, very humble. We have to look into our minds and hearts and families and schools and communities and together, we need to identify how we, as members of white culture- benefit from the system those neo-nazis desperately seek to protect.
White supremacy is the system that offers many of us picket fences and successful, cozy schools and healthy food and reliable medical care and protection from law enforcement and clear skies ahead while so many of our siblings of color are disallowed these things. The system we live and breathe and move in is white supremacy. The American dream is largely based upon it."
Brene Brown offers up the following, "The stories we don't own collectively, own us. The story of our country is white supremacy. We haven't had the courage to step in and own the story. The pain and discomfort of owning that story is nothing compared to the pain and discomfort of not owning it. Our work right now is to call it what it is."
I believe that the world will be saved by the human spirit. The ability that each of us has to be brave and courageous. The ability that each of us has to be greater than him or herself. The ability to rise up from our ordinary self to be something greater, something extraordinary. It's an elevation of us beyond ourselves. It is getting out of our comfortable bubble and into the discussion. It's stepping out from the sidelines and into the game. It's raising our consciousness with love, with curiosity and with accountability.
I invite you into the discussion. I invite and encourage you to be brave and courageous. Let's help each other bring awareness to this issue with love and curiosity.
Here is the documentary that I watched.
www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/charlottesville-vice-documentary_us_59930983e4b09071f69cc8f6?utm_campaign=hp_fb_pages&utm_source=main_fb&utm_medium=facebook&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063
I wanted to turn it off. A part of me wants to go back to living in my bubble. Part of me wants to pretend that I didn't see it and that it isn't happening, but I can't. I've done that for too long. I need to write about it, I need to do something about it. My white privilege allows me to walk away from the conversation, to say no I don't want to be uncomfortable. To go back to my life.
I feel vulnerable writing about it. What if I say the wrong thing? What if I don't get it right. What if I don't find the words to express what I'm thinking and feeling? But I, and too many others, have remained silent. I've chosen to play it safe, to let others engage while I sat on the sidelines feeling sad and overwhelmed. Afraid to use my voice, afraid to speak my truth. As long as I wasn't outwardly being racist than I didn't really need to say or do anything more right? What I've come to decide is that ignoring it is just as bad as supporting it. That silence is compliance.
Author, Glennon Doyle, expressed her thoughts in a Facebook post. Here is an excerpt from her post.
"It is no longer enough (it has never been enough) for white America to pat ourselves on the back because - at least we are not marching skinheads. No, we all have to get very, very humble. We have to look into our minds and hearts and families and schools and communities and together, we need to identify how we, as members of white culture- benefit from the system those neo-nazis desperately seek to protect.
White supremacy is the system that offers many of us picket fences and successful, cozy schools and healthy food and reliable medical care and protection from law enforcement and clear skies ahead while so many of our siblings of color are disallowed these things. The system we live and breathe and move in is white supremacy. The American dream is largely based upon it."
Brene Brown offers up the following, "The stories we don't own collectively, own us. The story of our country is white supremacy. We haven't had the courage to step in and own the story. The pain and discomfort of owning that story is nothing compared to the pain and discomfort of not owning it. Our work right now is to call it what it is."
I believe that the world will be saved by the human spirit. The ability that each of us has to be brave and courageous. The ability that each of us has to be greater than him or herself. The ability to rise up from our ordinary self to be something greater, something extraordinary. It's an elevation of us beyond ourselves. It is getting out of our comfortable bubble and into the discussion. It's stepping out from the sidelines and into the game. It's raising our consciousness with love, with curiosity and with accountability.
I invite you into the discussion. I invite and encourage you to be brave and courageous. Let's help each other bring awareness to this issue with love and curiosity.
Here is the documentary that I watched.
www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/charlottesville-vice-documentary_us_59930983e4b09071f69cc8f6?utm_campaign=hp_fb_pages&utm_source=main_fb&utm_medium=facebook&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063
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