I am the majority.
I’m a cisgender, straight, white person who didn’t have any trouble getting accepted into college or getting a job because of the color of my skin or the sound of my name on my resume. I have never been oppressed, and can look at statistics about crime rates and police shootings with some degree of separation. I instinctually believe that many police altercations shown in the media could have been prevented if the person in question had “just followed the rules/listened to the cops.”
I understand my privilege, and I’m sorry.
I’m sorry that there are people in my demographic who have held you down. I’m sorry that, for some of you, your heritage traces back to a people group that was bought off, abused and used like disposable property. I’ll be honest with you and myself: in the subconscious of my mind, I am a little bit racist sometimes. Instead of allowing those thoughts to control my behavior, I catch them and make the conscious effort to change that instinctive thought, or I’ll at least try my best to do so.
I am sorry that you face many hard realities on a daily basis, but I don’t know what I’m personally supposed to be doing.
My first and only step that I’ve taken in the process of making things better is simply saying “sorry,” even though I feel as an individual that I am not directly a part of the perpetuation of racism and prejudice in our country. I appreciate the differences in the colors of our skin, for doing anything else would be to ignore the beautiful diversity that our Creator has integrated into the fabric of our humanity. I start a dialogue when I can, but with national tragedies happening one after another and reading articles that say “don’t talk to your black friends right now,” I don’t know how I’m supposed to be contributing to this conversation.
I want to know how I can help create a society where “privilege” is not an issue: where everyone is given the same privilege, thereby removing its power over decision-making. I don’t know the “right thing” to say. I am being told that I am part of the problem, but I don’t know how to be a part of the solution.
The fact that there is so much content flooding my newsfeeds has inadvertently made me not want to read any of it, and I know many others are in the same boat as I am. I may have stayed silent on my social media, but please believe me when I say it is not because I am apathetic to the situation, I simply don’t know what to say.
I love you: You are important and I want to hear you. Please tell me how I can help.
