Just had someone ask me how I felt about race in America and they had great things to tell me.

So I’m sitting at the bar in Mission Beach, San Diego. I’m on my MacBook just reading here on Medium. One particular piece by Mandela Schumacher-Hodge stood out to me so I started reading and at the end left a comment below. A few seconds into typing my comment an older white lady next to me must have seen what I was reading, and of course she saw me spin up my Windows Virtual Machine on my MacBook, enough to peak anyone’s interest, lol. She asked me what it was that I was doing with Windows 10 on a Mac and I told her that I work in I.T. and as such I need to be able to have Windows 10 actively available to replicate issues that someone might be having on a Windows 10 device. She said that she found it interesting that I was a black male in IT and applauded me for it. She said that I was helping the cause of diversity in America and it made her happy to see that.

What was more exciting for me was to see that someone outside my race actually took the time to acknowledge the fact that I am working in a field that is primarily dominated by people of non-color or from a background not similar to my own. We started to talk about the events that have taken place in the days past and I was very impressed by her level of authentic speaking and care about the events at hand and I was more impressed and appreciative of the fact that she took the time to ask me about my opinion on it. There are tons of people that I know and “friends” that I have that would never think to do something like that. The sad part being that it only takes a few minutes of our time and we stand to learn more about each other with a conversation about race and world events than they typical, “Oh hey, I’m from so and so”, and that’s the end of that conversation. I want to know your opinion on the subject and I want to know if you are really aware of whats going on in the world. or are you just going to be blind about the entire thing and continue to say, “ I don’t see color”? Please!! We all see color, its just whether or not you can stand the simple fact that there are people that look different than you do and that we can do the same or more that you can. Don’t hide from the problem and continue to pull back the curtain that is the social norms. It isn’t forbidden to talk about how a 18-year old white girl was drugged and raped on campus by someone of her own race and socioeconomic background. But it is, in fact, forbidden to talk about how someone that had no criminal background and worked at a school cafeteria and fed children of all races and backgrounds. His only crime was reaching into his back pocket for his wallet to show proof of the permit to carry a weapon that he had already shown the officer.

My conversation with the woman next to me was refreshing to say the least and went quite well with my Pilsner if I do say so myself. Mid way through our conversation she said, plain and clear, “ The solution to the problem with race in America is to first acknowledge it ”. That simple sentence resonated with me and it was clear that I was speaking to someone that was not only aware of the problems that the nation is dealing with, but also understand that she has and will always benefit from the system that is in place in our country. But the difference is is whether or not she is willing to give up on those freedoms and opportunities that she will always be afforded. She said things in relation to that that made me feel like she was really willing to let go of those things for the sake of equality.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what I want to see and hear most as a 23-year old African American in living and working in places that don’t acknowledge the struggles that I face on the day to day for one simple fact that is the color of my skin. I have never expected anything from someone from outside of my race because I don’t expect and have never received anything from someone of my own race. All I ask is that people realize that there is a difference and to use that as a reason to work harder to make the world a better and equal place for us all. I can’t try to speak for every Black in America, but I hope that I represent a great number that feels like I do. You can’t have a problem that is thousands of years in the making and expect to solve it by keeping silent. I can only hope that with the advances in technology, communication gets better and the generations to come see that the line that is black and white will always be black and white, but that isn’t a bad thing. It just means that we are all different and we all have the god given means to contribute to a world full of color.