When you are white and evil comes
I am a white woman. An extremely white woman. I have joked to others I am ‘so white, I am see-thru’. Okay not one of my best jokes- but I share it to explain to you that I identify my whiteness so much, I try to make fun of it.
I grew up in a suburban magic bubble of sorts, with tolerant and racially kind parents. My friendships included Japanese immigrants, Chinese 2nd generation and many Hispanic families. My cheer squad was a bit of a NATO meeting with African Americans, Asians, blonds, brunettes and everything in between. My first boyfriend, and my first love was Mexican. My understanding of race was foolishly simple, so simple in fact that I didn’t think that it was a factor in people’s lives. Race was like hair color to me. Sure I noticed it, but it made absolutely no difference.
But then….
At age 9, I was motorcycle riding in the California desert, when we saw the body of a dead man floating in a water way on the Mexico border. My dad explained he was trying to come to America for a better life. Authorities were called. I don’t recall feeling sad. I remember being angry that this dead man was so desperate. I wondered if he had a 9 year old daughter back in Mexico.
And then…
We studied The Diary of Anne Frank and Hitler’s rise to power. While squeamish to study the details of the horrors, I remember becoming obsessed with understanding how ‘good’ people allowed him to get power. Who encouraged him? Why would they think his point of view was ethical? In my 20’s I visited the Holocaust museum in Los Angeles, and I left early in tears.
It was starting to sink in.
Eventually I started cringing watching my beloved old movies showing now-offensive characters cast as the ‘stingy Jewish banker’ or the ‘erratic broken English speaking Chinese servant’. Or worse entire movies about minority cultures, cast with white actors.
It was starting to sink in.
The first time I heard a more distant relative make an inappropriate ‘joke’ about someone who was black (as I recall something about the fact that ‘blacks don’t need to worry about buying a house, because they all just live in prison’) I think I decided it was because they were ‘old’ and that was just what older generation thought. I wasn’t angry. I didn’t say anything. I was silent.
I lived through my Southern California becoming over 50% Hispanic, and I listened to privileged white people talk about how now they were the ‘minority’ in disgust.
As I traveled the world for my career I saw more diversity. I understood better what America got right. And what it got wrong. I realized race problems are subtle at times. You have to be hyper aware. And it happens everywhere. I once stood in the floor of an apparel factory in Peru and yelled with the factory owner until he agreed to give the Chilean immigrant sewing operators chairs.
It sank in.
Racism isn’t THEIR problem. Racism is OUR problem; we are either victims of it, perpetrators of it or bystanders.
Not innocent bystanders….but GUILTY bystanders. We have an ethical responsibility to speak up, to defend those who need help and to be strong in the face of racism. Racism is our problem to fix.
If you ALLOW racism, you are a passive racist. But still every bit a RACIST. Which is why every vote for the Drumpf regime, was self identifying. Every Drumpf sticker, sign or social post is the same as saying “I endorse racism. I support racism. And I am a racist”.
There are a lot of people who voted for Drumpf regime, who are just realizing what they have done, and also realizing their actions and lack of concern for their fellow human beings does indeed make them a racist. From one person “Look I would never kill a Mexican or a black. But I just don’t think they are good for the country. Nothing but trouble. So I guess if that makes me a racist, then I am a racist.”
Yes that makes you a racist.
For the privileged white it is easy to look the other way.
Well my white people. This is our time.
We must boldly denounce the Drumpf regime. We must be the voice for those who are to scared. We must protect those who need protection.
We must BE BRAVE in the face of evil.
What side of history will you be on? Will you passively convince yourself that ‘it is not that bad’ or that there are ‘checks and balances, so he cant really do any harm’ ? Will you be silent when people in your bubble say they like the Drumpf regime? You do not need to be tolerant or patient in the face of evil, you need to be clear on where you stand at every opportunity.
I hope you will commit to use your voice.
This IS happening. What will you do?
