Hi Phillip,

I thank and commend you for trying to make some much-needed inroads here.

However. Hm. I can’t quite put my finger on what I find troubling about your piece and title, only to compare it to a recent piece by Chris Arnade. He begins by establishing a connection and alliance to the ‘black’ community via an explanation of the hardship his parents suffered as a result of fighting for the rights of ‘blacks’. He then discusses the behavior of some racist ‘white’ people he knew and how the proliferation of the words ‘stupid’ and ‘idiot’ bothers him. The whole article is represented with a picture of a smiling ‘black’ woman.

With all due respect, this is how your piece struck me. A ‘white’ person once again attempting to dissect the history of their racism through either self-absorption or deflection via the depiction of pitiable ‘blacks’.

It is not my intention to offend, or to appear supportive of the sometimes equally ignorant and inciteful behavior of ‘blacks’, but if you or your people have ever struggled to empathize with an oppressed group of people then perhaps this is the problem WITH YOU AND YOUR PEOPLE.

It is interesting that you, as a ‘white’ person, point out and allude to the lack of connection you feel when someone who looks like you acts wickedly, yet the connection you feel when someone who looks like you has been harmed. Maybe this needs to be explored further in therapy. If you as a ‘white’ person are truly interested in answering the question of why you and your people struggle with basic human emotions, then why are there pictures and allusions galore to ‘black’ people? I admit to being confused.

There is no need to connect with a Philando Castile or Alton Sterling or Maya Angelou. The absence of connection or the struggle to connect has nothing to do with ‘blacks’ per se and everything to do with you as a ‘white’ person. If what you need are pictures of murdered ‘black’ people to help jog your memory of human emotion then, god, it’s much worse than I thought.