Bridging The Gap: Thoughts On Racism From A White Mother of Black Children

I believe in honesty in all things, writing included. When I had the idea to write this article I had a certain person in mind for the target audience. About seven years ago I was the kind of person who would say “All lives matter” in response to protests. I was the kind of person who thought that black people only had trouble with the police because the were committing crimes. Today I couldn’t be further from that viewpoint. The thing that has changed me was having black family members. People I love and care for that are of a different race than myself.

This article is for the past me.

This article is for those who say “all lives matter”. It’s for those who don’t understand because they don’t have loved ones that are people of color. Please, read this with an open mind.

The woman I sat across from was tall and slender. A single mother of two, Lisa has been a hard worker her entire life. She seemed like the kind of person who is generally quiet, but is full of an inner toughness that you wouldn’t want directed your way. That’s an important trait for a white mother of two black girls to have.

Lisa adopted her first child in 2004, then adopted again in 2007. “I knew from my twenties that I wanted to be a mom and I never married, I never found the right guy for me. And as I got into my thirties, I started looking into adoption”. One of the local adoption agencies had a good reputation and Lisa had several…