I don’t find it offensive to have an honest dialogue about race, hence my respectful invite to reconsider that statement and the meaning it conveyed to me, whether intended or not: an honest dialogue.

While I may assume you are racist, from your statement/post or otherwise, I also assume myself to be. Because I am. We are. I don’t mean to nor do I want to be, and if viewed relatively, I believe — hope — I am less so than many others, and than I used to be. For it is so deeply engrained in us — culturally and institutionally, and to truly transcend it, we have to acknowledge this.

It starts there. Each one of us. Acknowledgment, awareness, dialogue, change. And all this while careful to not assume the mantle of power and control over the problem, to not disable the agency of those we seek to equalize our humanity with. I have so much to learn still. I can hardly do this problem justice with my limited words to explain how I feel, what I believe about it, what little I’ve learned. And so, like you, I attempt honest dialogue, from a place of love, compassion, and respect — for you, for others.

And the potential to misspeak or be misunderstood is never lost on me, being a priveleged-in-many-ways white guy speaking out for social justice of various forms. But my heart tells me I need to help give voice, my voice, for whatever it’s worth, and engage in dialogue, and be open to learn and grow. So I do.