Happy Fourth, Celebrate by Blowing Up a Small Portion of it
It’s hard to feel patriotic this Fourth.
I sat down to write a long and important post about how to contextualize The Fourth of July to my two year old sons in light of an increasingly racist America. But my white woman’s ‘voice’ doesn’t add anything new to the dialog. If anything, it hurts by displacing the voices of women of color who I recognize as having a more immediate experience with the sad reality that is the USA right now. So please click and go read Alexis Gleason’s post on Wire and Honey’s blog.
https://www.wireandhoney.com/blog/entries/white-women-need-to-be-quiet/
When you are done with that watch this MTV piece about Whitesplaining.
Did you make it this far? Did you take something in from both pieces?
You want to really blow up (I know I’m stretching the metaphor) your mind. Look at Layla Saad’s Instagram Program You & White Supremacy. I’m trying to honestly work through all 28 days of her program to engage in some genuine introspection about the roll I play in institutionalized racism in America.
But, Not all white people…..
Stop, and go back and look at day six of of Layla Saad’s Program. You & White Exceptionalism.
What are you going to do about it?
What’s a Nice White Lady to do? Look at this page. https://www.nicewhiteladies.com/ Take direct action locally and consider the concept of Reparations. I bet that word made you all edgy. But instead of getting defensive put your money where your mouth is. Connect with a Woman of Color who needs concrete help that you can give.
Go to https://whitenonsenseroundup.com/ and volunteer or DIY your own White Nonsense Round Up. It’s last on the list because it is a white run site and the whole point of this post was to prioritize the expression of People of Color. Take responsibility. Don’t be part of white silence. Learn how to address the racists in your life; because age and location of origin DO NOT EXCUSE racism. Great Aunt Millie needs to be told to STFU.
I mean all of this quite sincerely, Don’t raise assholes. Learn Better, Do Better, Leah
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