This Tuesday, I had the privilege of hearing Mr. Bryan Stevenson speak about his book Just Mercy which I read as part of USM's Honors College curriculum over the summer. As I turned the pages of Stevenson's novel, tear-stained and tattered, I knew I would never be able to keep quiet about the devastating effects of racism again.

Which is why this is the first time I have let my words take shape over an issue I know people like to sweep under the rug. I try to shy away from controversy, but that is just the problem. Shying away from it is fueling it. I will simply go ahead and make the statement many reading this will become offended by (you're welcome to sign out anytime by the way. Just a gentle reminder that no one is forcing you to read this). Here it goes.

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White people are the problem.

Yep. There ya go.

I realize that as a white female, standing up for civil rights is not a common thing to do. In my opinion, it is not common enough.

Let me explain myself.

On Tuesday, Mr. Stevenson gave a compelling presentation about the history of America and the personal way in which he has seen the marked despair of the oppressed as a Harvard law graduate, having been intimately involved in the twisted structures of our country's justice system. His message was one of hope and also a call to action- to become more aware, to stop turning a blind eye, to see what is in front of us and recognize that no, slavery is actually not abolished in the United States. We have a new form of slavery now, one in which white people can keep all the unearned status for their white skin and it remain relatively inconsequential for them. It might be a familiar word to you... does racism ring any bells?

The funny part is, those things are not really what Stevenson said. That's what I thought about as he gave a painfully inoffensive, encouraging talk about hope. He used the pronoun "we" to refer to the persons responsible for the ensuing of slavery, and quite honestly I was infuriated. Here is a black American man having to say "we" enslaved black people in America perhaps to not step on any (white) toes. He should not have to do that. We should not take offense at our own history, forcing him to claim a part in what was not his at all. Of course, we can all accept our historical mistakes and move on- yes... but that does not justify the invalidation of historical fact to be "polite" to white audience members. It just does not.

I digress. (But now, at least it's off my chest.)

As Stevenson finished his eloquent speech, I knew I had to ask a question. It was one that I had formulated while listening to his words and thinking about my own on the subject. So, as the last audience member allowed to pose a question to Mr. Bryan Stevenson before he flew back to teach at NYU, I got up and just about snatched the microphone.

I was shakily nervous and mumbled something awkward like "I'm so excited to get to ask you a question!"

Right, I know, not my most articulate moment.

But then I composed myself, read my trembling paper, and more begged than asked: "Mr. Stevenson, how can we as students go about changing the narrative that causes this? How can we, as you say, become proximate? And in dealing with racism, what can white people in hegemonic culture do to bring just mercy to a country still in shackles?"

There was a round of applause as I steadied my near-vibrating limbs and sat down. Mr. Stevenson grinned as wide as I thought he possibly could. And while I don't remember everything from the answer he so sincerely gave me, I remember that he said to have hope. I remember understanding, without him even telling me, that as a white person I had to be the one to speak up. To open the invitation. To start the conversation.

Dear white people, please acknowledge this. You did not earn your white skin, though you might like to believe it. You simply got genetically lucky. No one chooses what skin to be born in. No one earns white privilege. As a white woman, I know for a fact that I am given privileges I did not work for. From the minute I was born, there was an unspoken blessing over me that I was somehow “better” because my skin lacked certain pigments. It is strange to me that as I have grown, it only took me 18 years to realize how very sick that ideology is. Why has it taken our country decades? Why is it still an issue? Are we shutting our eyes, in pride so that we can hold on to this sense of entitlement, belittling others just to feel mighty in society?

Here is what I have realized.

You have a choice if you are white. You have a choice to end it; to give up this throne made of ugly shackles. So, please. Choose not to keep what was never yours to take in the first place.

Remember that being silent is being still.

And we don't call it a movement for nothing.