Yup, I'm going there. Maybe it is too soon. I have been known to do that. And my heart is pounding in fear, but I believe more in honest heartfelt dialog than I do in fear.
Jump if you feel so inclined.
Two women posted diaries that drew a lot of attention and passionate painful discussion.
So I would like to share my perspectives and ask for feedback and dialog.
I am a white girl (I'm 48 years old. I wish I was a girl)who has often been asked if she was passing.
My dad was from Wisconsin. He and my Mom met in Chicago. My mom was from Fairfield Alabama. She ran screaming from the south when she was 19. She is now 80. You do the math.
I grew up on Long Island in the blue collar neighborhood of Levittown.
I was raised in the Methodist church with the message that Jesus loved all the children of the world.
Red and Yellow Black and White they are precious in his sight.
That message stuck.
Throughout my life I have had experiences that have shown me how sheltered I was. I read Hiroshima in Junior High. A high school teacher showed us a documentary about the Holocaust.
I read the article about Emmett Till.
Layers of gauze falling off my eyes.
I love Chris Rock. I love Bill Cosby. I feel conflicted about things that he has said. I feel white guilt when I agree with some of the things he has said.
How do we deal with hip hop? Is is black culture? I don't think black culture is the same as urban street culture. When does something become mainstream? We can't ignore it's roots. How do we talk about these things without causing offense and pain?
My husband thinks I am pathetic because when I am in public, I will go the extra distance to smile at a black person who is shopping in my predominantly white neighborhood. I will make sure I tell a black mom how beautiful I think her child is. Did you see that video?
Race a girl like me I want her to hear people tell her she is beautiful.. a million times a day.
So how do we move beyond our pain, beyond our divide? First I think we acknowledge that the divide is there. And that some days, we are just bumbling along in the dark.
Well, here goes.