The Conversation We Must Have

First off ,let me offer this disclaimer...I did not write the narrative I'm about to share with you...A friend of a friend on Facebook posted this...But I could have written this..This says everything that needs to be said about the state of race in this country today...

Until everyone begins to look beyond individual acts of malice for their definiton of racism, and personal assuaging of conscience because "that's not me," there's not a lot to discuss or hope for progress.

 So non-black, non-prejudiced friends, it's about more than being horrified at the onslaught of brutality against black people. It's about more than recognizing that this is "horrible." It's about more than realizing that this is wrong and being saddened for a few days while returning to your life as usual while black people have to process trauma, grief, and tragedy.

Black people have to figure out how to move past our emotions and figure out what to do individually and collectively.

We have to figure out how to teach our children to live freely while recognizing the danger, yes danger, we and they face on a daily basis. We have to figure out how to live without the injustice consuming us, and how to survive without being cowards.

All of that is something you don't face, ever. And that, my friends, is just a simple example of white privilege.

 So if you care, if you really care, you'll begin to learn what institutional racism is. You will learn what white supremacy and white privilege are and will acknowledge that they are ingrained in every facet of American life including politics, the media, education, social welfare, the law, housing, religion, and finance.

Everything. You won't tell black people how we should feel or what we should do. You won't tell us how to protest because the ugly truth is that no matter if we protest peacefully or aggressively, if we advocate for peaceful resistance or encourage bearing arms, we're at the same risk of death. Both Malcom X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated, feel me?

You will acknolwdge that race is the gaping wound this country tries to cover with a dollar store band-aid when, in fact, reconstructive surgery is needed.

You will listen with open hearts and minds. You will find and read the works of anti racist advocates and essayists.

If you really care you will have the courage to risk troubling the waters of your social circles and will perhaps disrupt your social status quo to challenge your friends, teach them, and use social media and other means to speak out and take other action to impact change.

If you're unwilling to do that then I ask that you spare me the expressions of sympathy, remorse, and attempted understanding. I don't WANT to discuss any of this (Charleston, police brutality, or anything connected to race) with you if you're not willing to take those risks.

That may be uncomfortable, scary and require courage. Well, to that all I can say is "welcome to the struggle."

No...I didn't write the above...but I could have...Every thinking Black Man ,Woman and Child could have written these very words!

Welcome to our world...Our collective African-American Reality....White people can no longer afford the luxury of their silence while these atrocities such as last week's massacre in Charleston keep occurring.

You say these are just isolated events....Well, there seems to be an isolated event every week.