I hear you, @johnmetta. I mostly agree.

Let’s continue the conversation

First of all, thank you for your willingness to talk once more to white people about racism. I know it’s uncomfortable to share after failed attempts, as it’s uncomfortable for me to respond to your article after my own failed attempts to connect with black people on racism.

I agree with you on the points that I feel are most important to furthering the conversation on race in America and beyond. I’ll start there.

The result of this is an incessantly repeating argument where a Black person says “Racism still exists. It is real,” and a white person argues “You’re wrong, I’m not racist at all. I don’t even see any racism.”

…The entire discussion of race in America centers around the protection of White feelings.

Wow, yes. It is so important that we listen carefully and speak precisely if we are to ever understand each other. And by “we”, I don’t mean “white people and black people”, I mean anyone with different perspectives on anything.

Angry Black Person shares feelings about race with Sensitive White Person and SWP immediately fears that s/he is being called a racist. Instead of making this fear known, or asking for clarification, s/he argues, “No, I’m not a racist.” What is intended as a rational discussion has been derailed by emotion, and already we’re hopeless to get anywhere.

But this goes both ways. ABP’s anger and SWP’s fear are both contributing to emotional confusion of the issue.

“The only difference between people in The North and people in The South is that down here, at least people are honest about being racist.”

…White people and Black people are not having a discussion about race. Black people, thinking as a group, are talking about living in a racist system. White people, thinking as individuals, refuse to talk about “I, racist” and instead protect their own individual and personal goodness. In doing so, they reject the existence of racism.

If you are talking about living in a racist system, talk about the racist system, not racist people. They are not the same thing. Anger that the system exists creates a desire to blame someone for the system, so we start talking about racist people. And fear of being labeled “racist” prevents white people from actually seeing the most important point, that White Privilege still exists.

So that last sentence is a bridge too far. SWP still doesn’t realize that we’re even talking about the racist system, because instead we’re talking about racist people. “I am not a racist” is not equivalent to “Racism does not exist.”

And White people, every single one of you, are complicit in this racism because you benefit directly from it.

I have to say, John, this is the one statement in your article that really bothered me. I think you wanted it to bother me, to get me to look hard at myself. And in following my own suggestion, I want to make my feelings known so that we don’t start talking past each other. It bothers me because it’s very much out of my control that I benefit from it. Yes, there are things that I can do to limit my White Privilege, and I could even go as far as to make myself worse off to “level the playing field”. But I don’t think that’s what you want, and I don’t think I could actually transform my life’s privilege to match the average black person’s privilege if I tried.

I read the comments others made on this statement and your responses to them. @vallynn mentioned:

And, similarly, you are complicit in the systemic, ingrained Discrimination against Women and the preservation of Male Privilege because you directly benefit from it.

You replied:

I’m not only complicit in male privilege, I’m complicit in White privilege since I have light skin, and thus can “pass.” I’m almost as White privileged as White people. It’s a complex topic.

@coreyburnett brought up sweatshops, and you agreed you are complicit in them too. Okay, so we’re all complicit in this racist system… Now what?

I see no point in playing the blame game. I accept no guilt for being born into an unfair world. I do accept responsibility for my choices. All that matters is, “What can I do?” I can’t do anything about the fact that racism exists or that I have White privilege. I can accept that it exists and help others realize it too. I can continue risking the opinion others have of me by making my truth known.

My truth is, I am complicit in this racist system because I have no viable alternative. Because the racist system upon which this world has been built is none other than the money system. By accepting dollars for our time and skill and effort, we are complicit to an unfair world. Perhaps the world will never be entirely fair, but with alternative currency, we have the potential to truly level the playing field. A new system could be designed to allow much more equal access to wealth. And no, I’m not talking about BitCoin.

I realize I’ve spent most of this response disagreeing with you despite my title’s promise otherwise. I feel that your most important message to deliver is that racism still exists no matter how much the sensitive white people among us may not want to talk about it. I concur.

As a side note, I think it’s very dangerous to talk about “black people” or “white people” as a single entity. We are all so unique, after all. Such a white person thing to say, I know.

So much ❤.