#blacklivesmatter 2016 america black boys black girls children our children parenting Uncategorized

Dear White People

Tikeetha TMby
177 Comments on Dear White People

Can we talk?

Can we truly talk about the elephant in the room that you never want to talk about?

Race.

Let’s talk about race.

I’m black.

I’m a woman.

Two indisputable facts that you may have noticed.

I’m a mother.

To a son.

He’s the light of my life.

He’s my Munch.

He’s also black.

Why do I keep mentioning color? Because I need you to see and acknowledge the rich hues in my skin tone. I need you to see my melanin and know that I am black. Can you see the warm coffee colored hues of my skin tone just radiating? Yes?

Good.

Let’s talk.

I’m black. A beautiful black woman who shares a rich history in this country. My ancestors were kings and queens, slaves and sharecroppers. I know this. Many of you know this. But, I need you to stop acting like I’m supposed to forget this country’s history.

I can’t.

Even when the school textbooks gloss over slavery, I have to fill in the gaps and remind my son. Our lives and history didn’t begin and end with slavery. This country where the soil is rich with the blood from your ancestors is a great one.

Now, that you know that I’m black and I love this country can we talk about race? Can we talk about why it is important that we talk about it? Can we talk about the fact that nothing will change unless you stop saying you don’t see color and recognize my beautiful skin tone?

See, if you see my differences that will allow you to see my issues. To understand why some people look at me funny when I accompany you to your small town. Why if you invite me to your bridal shower and baby shower your family and friends are wondering how I got an invite. Because I’m the only black there.

I’m comfortable in my skin and in our relationship to not be offended. Why? Because I know that you love and respect me. Just like I love and respect you. We are friends. We do play dates and mommy dates. We engage.

That’s what most black folks want. People to engage. People to understand that there are some differences that you will never have to teach your children. I don’t want you to think I’m blaming you for that. No, I want you to be mad at the fact that your son can’t give my son a toy gun. Mad at the fact that when our children are playing together in your neighborhood that people think my son was adopted.

Why? Because he’s out of place? He doesn’t belong there. I want you to see the underlining comments that are made by some of your friends and classmates when they get drunk and call me out my name…

Nigger, Black Bitch.

Umm, why do you need to put my color in it? If you’re going to call me a bitch why not just a bitch? Why do you have to say black bitch?

I need you to get mad when you think about the countless black boys and girls that are murdered in cold blood by people acting like the victims were a threat. Why is it only in this country you can kill somebody in cold blood and then have the audacity to call the victim a thug? But, Ryan Lochte though?

Umm, I digress.

Listen white people. We, black folks love you and respect you. We just want the same. Not just for the one black family you befriended but for all those that look differently than you. Recognize our differences, respect them and stand up to the BS that you witness.

Can you do that? Can you work with me and not against me? Maybe, just maybe if we do it…we can make America great again. Together.

177 comments

  1. I just wanted to say “I love you my black friend”. Ryan Lochte though….don’t get me started. Thank you for writing this post. White people like to pretend that the past doesn’t exist when it comes to black people, because then they can feel less guilt and attachment to the way that history has gone down. What I think is that if we embrace it all, but then embrace each other, love each other and respect each other, we can start writing a new chapter or our history books.

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    1. Thanks Stephanie! I love you too! I know that if you and I ever met in person we would be the best of friends. It’s uncomfortable to talk about race, I get it but if we don’t we can never start to break down those barriers. We need to be united so that we can leave this world better for our children. They need us.

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    1. Thanks sis! It’s a conversation that must be had and I know all black folks can relate. I just think white people don’t want to discuss race because they are afraid to have their illusion destroyed. We don’t discuss race with ignorant racists. But, if you call yourself my friend or say that you aren’t against racism and hatred then how can you not discuss it? We need to stand together to fix America.

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  6. Your post is so powerful.
    I am white and not in the US – in fact I’ve never been in my whole life. I think on the old continent things are a bit less extreme than in the US though, but maybe it is just white privilege talking here. Maybe I don’t know because I don’t live it every day.
    My husband is from India, and where we live, it is people of middle eastern origin that are considered second class citizens. He is often mistaken for one, and receives treatments that people should be ashamed to give. One lady crossed the street once in order not to be on the sidewalk with him. It was a Sunday morning and he was doing his usually jogging around the neighborhood thing. Not shaven, wearing old tracksuits. He was deeply hurt. Once he got thrown out of a restaurant for no valid reason.
    I cannot even imagine what you are going through. What we read and see of the situation in the US is just unimaginable for me (in the first place guns aren’t allowed, but this is a different debate).
    I’m ready to be mad, for you, for my husband, and for my daughter.

    Liked by 6 people

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    1. Thank you so much. It’s a shame that your husband has to endure. It affects a person. Mentally and emotionally. Discrimination, racism and bigotry destroy a country slowly but surely. We just need to get along. We are not all going to be best friends, but we can’t allow our friends and family members to continue to treat people poorly and then act like we don’t see it. That is the biggest injustice. If we stand together it will allow for meaningful conversations. It will allow us to stand for good and right and not hate. We are stronger together than apart.

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      1. Indeed. My dad jokes around a lot, and it is not always the best taste kind of thing. I told him off the day I got married because he made a racist joke. I told him it was the last one, now that I was married to a man of colour. He got it and never made another one (at least not in front of me).

        Liked by 1 person

  10. Fantastic! Very well said and timely. It’s hard for me to fathom that with all the struggles of the Civil Rights movement in 60’s that these issues of decisiveness and ignorance continue to persist. Our differences should be embraced and celebrated and learned from, not reasons to hate. It starts at home. People aren’t born prejudice. It’s a learned behavior. We’re teaching our boys quite the opposite. Nice to meet you, by the way. 😃

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    1. Nice to meet you as well. Thank you. Yes, we need to teach our children better. We have to set the example and fix this country. One group can’t do it alone. It takes us all united for the good of mankind to make a difference and not tolerate racism or bigotry.

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      1. Couldn’t agree more. I can’t understand why this is such a decisive issue, still. We all have our differences, sure, but we are all human beings and should be in this together, I think. I guess not all see it that way, unfortunately. Again, great post. 😊

        Liked by 1 person

  12. I am white. I am also Southern, which in itself is cause for much prejudice toward me and my ancestors. We’re the ones who are most often charged with racism and bigotry…but there are some of us who truly appreciate the value of a human being.
    I was raised by people who taught me never to “see” color, race, religion, or sexual orientation.
    I have never referred to or introduced a friend as “my black” or “my Jewish” or my “gay” friend but I have actually been introduced as “my Southern white friend.”
    I have never understood the need for labels….if you are my friend, you are just that. My friend. It shouldn’t have to be explained, excused or modified or described.

    Maybe the only thing I did right as a mama was instill those values into my children, who today, carry on my teachings and the teachings of my ancestors. Of that…I am very proud.

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    1. I’m from the south too so I never really experienced racism until I came to Maryland. You would have thought Tennessee and Texas had more racists, but maybe I never met them. I just want people to understand and appreciate other people’s differences. We can’t allow hate to destroy us or act like their are not hateful people that are changing our country in a negative way. What are we going to do as a country to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to live. Many blacks don’t feel that freedom today. I mean we have a black President but we are further as a country than before he was elected. We all need to fix this. Together.

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      1. You’re absolutely right…on a few points. I had never in my life heard the racist slurs I heard in Philadelphia.
        I remember thinking a few years ago that I thought we were really on the path to equality for everybody…and it seemed that we were sliding backward. There’s the constant bullshit rhetoric that’s slung around…and then a quick, tearful apology is supposed to make it okay?
        No.
        As you said…we can’t allow hatred to destroy us…but it is.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I’m hoping that our open and honest conversations will change things for our children. We have to leave this world in a much better place. One of the reasons I’m teaching Munch French. I need him to understand the value in the language and being able to interact with other cultures and truly try to understand the culture and respect the people.

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  13. Very well said Sis.

    I’d like to add that it hurts my heart when some white people ‘cloak’ for the behaviors of others.
    Recently, at a local high school, a couple of white students were caught on FB calling black people “porch monkey niggers!”
    Yes! Girl, I’m clutching my pearls too.
    Well the Principal, who is white, refused to admonish them because, in his words, “I know these boys hearts and they don’t really mean that.” (CLOAK!!!!)
    I was disgusted because this occurred at my son’s alma mater.
    A group of black parents protested the Principal’s response; or lack thereof, and were basically told, “Oh we’ll do something.” (CLOAK!!!)
    So far, nothing has happened.

    Now some might ask, “What does the school have to do with this?”
    My answer, “EVERYTHING!”
    Are you comfortable knowing that certain students are representing your school in such a despicable manner?

    Are you good with that?

    All I ask is for my white friends to stand up and call your buddies out when they say such hateful things about blacks or any other race. Don’t let it slide! Call it out! Be brave and challenge that kind of behavior! Let them know that it is wrong and that you refuse to CLOAK!!!

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    1. Totally get it. Yep, I’m clutching my pearls sis. I would be pissed if that happened and my son’s friends are friends with the kids and they don’t say anything. Basically, the message from the principal is that these kids are racists and nothing will happen to them. Instead of condoning that behavior and giving them mandatory voluntary hours at a community center in a black community or suspension you are allowing black folks to feel that racism and bigotry is tolerated at your school. Talk about missed opportunity to educate. That is unacceptable. If my son EVER came out his mouth and called white people some derogatory marks or any race for that matter, his butt is mine. He will wish he never said those words and his life will be filled with so many book reports and volunteer hours he will probably want to run away. But, I’m teaching him that we have to love everyone. God made each and everyone of us and you have no right to ever call someone a racist or hateful comment. That is unacceptable. We need to be the change we want to see and I would be hot if that was my child’s principal.

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      1. I am in total agreement with you here. Fortunately, this jackass was not the Principal when my son attended. My baby graduated a few years back , but still, we have supported that school and I was planning to send my daughter there in a few years but I am having serious second thoughts.
        Yes, it was a huge missed opportunity! HUGE!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I think you should send him an email and copy the board about a missed opportunity to educate and you don’t feel comfortable sending your daughter there whereby she could be disrespected and the administration allows that.

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      3. Girl this joker has gotten countless e-mails saying that very thing from the black community; especially alumni but he doesn’t even respond. The fact is, he does NOT care.
        He’ll be retired in another year or two.

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    2. I have never heard the term “cloaking.”
      I find it more than a little disturbing that famous politicians and actors get away with their slurs with a (as I told Tikeetha) quick, tearful apology. “I don’t feel that way…really.”
      The fact is…YES YOU DO! You’re just sorry you got caught. When you’re behind closed doors…the truth comes out.

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      1. Thanks so much for the response 🙂
        It’s kinda coincidental because I was just reading, and enjoying, your exchange with Tikeetha.
        I really do appreciate your point of view because I have seen blacks say things like “My white friend” and I agree, wholeheartedly, that it’s not cool to put people on the spot like that in any case.

        BTW, Instead of using the word “cloaking” I probably should have said “downplaying” or “covering up.”

        Sadly, people from both sides tend to “cloak.” I guess it’s a form of protection.
        We just gotta call it out.

        Thanks for the chat my friend 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Yes, we do say my white friends. Especially if you have two friends with the same name and you’re trying to tell another friend that your girl Karen said Morty’s wasn’t a good spot to eat and your friend says which Karen? You respond “my white girlfriend Karen”.

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      4. It is. No one ever knows last names. So, if my friends Karen George and Karen Rhodes are both at my parties then who am I really talking about? LOL. I’m okay if with it if we have the same first name. But, Tikeetha is original so no one is going to ask which Tikeetha. LOL.

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  15. I think this is one of the best posts I have read so far!! I respect you for saying it loud what so many others have been wanting to say since a long time. Thank you for being so blunt and truthful about it.

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    1. Thank you. I just want us to work together. We have to stop acting like race is not an issue. We have to stop being dismissive of racial or hateful comments and seek to educate and encourage one another.

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  17. Thanks Tikeetha for this and excuse the long comment.

    Unfortunately Tikeetha this is not an American issue,it is just a black issue. Everywhere you go in the world blacks always have to defend their blackness to people who claim not to see it.”But Tikeetha, i do not see race or color, to me you are just a colorless beautiful soul, we are just the same.” The minute they say that they have re-written your history and ignored your existence. But they say it so casually so carelessly.
    Google what happened in South Africa at Pretoria high in 2016 in Africa, white people saying blackness offends them in Africa where it is manufactured, like seriously I am getting tired of this.

    So to all my beautiful sun kissed brothers and sisters, going through hell because of the color of their skin. A line from one of the ancient African praise poems (translation is rough): “beautiful children of the soil, the ones carried for years in a black baby sling made of skin, children of color, of the hues of the earth and of life may you love your color and know that it is the color of the bark of the wild berry trees, a color of those who are friends with the sun).

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    1. Love this sis. Yes, our color makes some people think we don’t exist. We have to stop saying we’re color blind and recognize the differences. Let’s unite against hatred. I love that piece. I’m sharing int on Friday.

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  19. You’ve been following my blog (and a couple of my responses) so you already know 😉

    Thanks for writing this. Sometimes, if enough people say the same thing, eventually, someone will look up and say “huh? OK.”

    In short *ahem*:
    Amen.

    Liked by 1 person

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  22. ::Claps::

    As someone who is STILL excising the unintentionally toxic lessons I was taught about race in my formative years (I grew up in a city that was, at the time, about 96% white… The teachers tried to teach well, but the district chose the “color-blind, I don’t see race” method of teaching and failed to draft inclusive curriculum that tells the WHOLE story of America), it makes me so angry that non-white experiences aren’t given the proper respect they deserve in education, which leads to people getting irrationally angry at actors giving acceptance speeches with political statements or rage at a black man sitting through the anthem, telling them they should be GRATEFUL because they are SUCCESSFUL and clearly NOT OPPRESSED.

    I mean, ffs, people.

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  25. Pingback: Monthly Favorites - August - Smiling Notes

  26. Love this. I don’t understand why people don’t understand! I know a lot of it is ignorance. I just don’t get why ppl can’t or don’t want to see what is going on. We are all different and should embrace our differences. Ignoring something doesn’t make it go away!! I have recently been posting a lot about kaepernick on my page and it amazes me the ppl who are upset. It seems as though some ppl don’t even realize that they are more worried about a flag than a human life!!!! It frustrates me to no end but I refuse to delete the ignorant ppl of my fb because if I can help educate just one person that could make a difference. Thank you for this! Love you sis and the black queen that you are!!! 😙

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  28. Pingback: Saturday Thoughts – A Thomas Point of View
  30. Pingback: Dear White People | Making Time For Me

  31. I promise that ALL white folks aren’t bigots – and that some, like me, are angry that there are others who are. I’m appalled that life is different for the two of us, simply because of the color of our skin.

    The truth is that skin color – along with hair color – is one of the first things noted, even for me. I try not to make it mean anything, but it is true that we are each the sum of our experiences. Not all blondes are dizzy, for example, but young women who put on the image of the stereotype are perpetuating it as much as those who discriminate against them.

    It’s a complex issue. And yes, we DO need to talk about it.
    xx,
    mgh
    (Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMore dot com)
    – ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder –
    “It takes a village to transform a world!”

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  32. What a wonderful post! Thank you for starting up a conversation that so needed to be…so many are afraid to say anything for fear of being labeled.
    I was raised in the south by a bigoted father and a mother that was apologetic and had a hidden agenda. Mom was passing………..yea. That old bugaboo word. Mom’s grandmother was black and it was hidden. No one ever spoke of her, acknowledged that she was black.Back in the 20’s when Mom was born no one spoke of having ‘black blood” and if the children were light skinned enough they “passed”. None of us children knew we had “black blood”. God forbid dad ever found out.
    I researched our family tree and came up with a census record showing race and I thought mom was going to actually kill me when I mentioned it in dad’s hearing. She actually said the census was incorrect and I should just forget it.
    I was to always stay out of the sun, use sun blockers and never under any circumstances mention race. It was confusing to say the least. Every summer I was yelled at for getting “too dark”.
    In college I volunteered with the NAACP getting out voter registration cards to people that had not yet registered..and I was considered their “token” white chick.
    I always tried to teach my kids that race did matter..it has a significant impact on how people are treated. on whether they get that raise they deserve..or the house they want. I tried to show them that everyone SHOULD be equal but they just aren’t treated that way. So many whites say race has no meaning, that they are color-blind.I know what they are trying to say is that race shouldn’t matter. iT IS SO SAD TO ME THAT IT MATTERS MORE NOW THAN IT DID BACK IN MY TEEN YEARS. Race does matter.

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    1. Wow you have an amazing testimony! Thank you for commenting and you’re absolutely right what they’re trying to say is that race shouldn’t matter but it does and we just have to stand up for injustices.

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  33. Powerful. Hearfelt. Very well said. I couldn’t agree with you more. And Damn……I think it took 5 minutes to scroll down to get to make this comment because you’ve had so much positive feedback. I think your son is absolutely adorable. He’s blessed to have such a strong loving Mom! Hugs 💜

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  34. Great post very provoking. It’s a dialogue that needs to be talked about often. Us black people don’t hate white people. We just hate white privilege. We hate how oblivious some people are until a celebrity brings it to their attention. We hate George Zimmerman and Dylan Roof.

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  37. Such a great post! I cannot understand why people make it about color, religion, what you eat or not eat… instead of focusing on the one important fact: You’re either a good person or not. That’s all that counts…

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  38. Pingback: Two Thumbs Up Tuesday: (9/6) | Not the Average Mama

  39. This took a lot to write about. Race has become one of the touchiest subjects in this world. I too live in MD, the racial slurs towards black and whites is unreal. You would think bigger cities would have more problems than little towns. I never realized really until I went to Virginia and how much respect my fiancé and I (gay couple) got from all types of different races, which doesn’t happen at home. Exactly like you said, “black bitch”, “white bitch” I hear on a daily basis. Maryland needs to step up. Somewhere down the line us humans forgot that we’re all one race, humans.

    ✌🏽️✌🏻✌🏾✌🏿

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  40. It’s crazy right now. I live in a town where things are getting more and more culturally diverse. People of all colors say acknowledge and say “hi” to each other, hold doors for each other in passing, smile and seemingly respect each other. I live that. And then I see the news. I hear about an innocent black man being shot in his car for no reason and I pray “Please God don’t let that be true.” I hear about an innocent Chinese man being beaten by rioters until someone yells “Stop, he’s not white.” And again I’m like “Lord, that can’t be right.” We as a human race have to be better than that, all of that. I have red in my skin. Literally you can see my capillaries. I also have some Cherokee. One day though I hope that we will all just see each other as people, men and women.

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  41. Pingback: My Picks Of The Week #37 | A Momma's View

  45. Hi Tikeetha, Lady G sent me!

    I’m still trying to digest everything you wrote. I think of myself as a fairly enlightened white person (who is at least trying to be), but I’ve honestly been confused by why colorblindness is offensive before too.

    So I’m taking what you wrote to heart and trying to wrap my mind around it. I think, for some of us white people, there has been so much ugly discrimination in the past that by saying we don’t recognize color, we’re *trying* to say color doesn’t make a difference to us (like it does to an outspoken racist).

    I’ve never made a point to say that myself, but I do get the thinking behind it. We’re not sure how to recognize color in any way that isn’t bad. Recognizing your painful history (like slavery and Jim Crow and firehoses) means recognizing our own role as oppressors and we’re not sure how to incorporate that into our identity. We’d rather chalk it up to bad things happening in the past when people thought differently and were raised to do horrible things.

    I think we’re also painfully naive about continuing racial injustices. It’s not so much deliberate as a product of us growing up white and therefore not experiencing these things. I’m honestly shocked when people use the N-word or hurl racial epithets, like I just fell into the 19th century. Again, it’s naive, but I’m not black so I’m not experiencing any of it firsthand.

    That’s why I completely agree with you that we all need to start having more open discussions. We need to communicate. I need to better understand your personal experiences and different perspective.

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    1. Hey sis! Welcome to my blog. Thank you so much for commenting. I truly appreciate it. I like that you were open and honest and said you don’t know how to do it. That’s the first step. Saying that you’re not sure how, but I want to work with you so that we can eradicate the injustices is a step in the right direction. There are no gray lines when it comes to right and wrong or good or bad. We teach our children that there are consequences for their actions, but we don’t accept accountability for ours. Black people experience microaggressions all the time in subtle ways. For example, I move into a rich neighborhood and there is something occurring and I don’t get let into my neighborhood even though I have a pass that shows I live there. People assume I don’t belong. If I walk into an office and tell the person that I’m here to see someone and then you come in five minutes later to see the same person. We smile and then the person we both come to see may ignore me but see you first. I was there first. We are expected to ignore that. I’ve experienced this and so much more. We know not everyone is bad or a racist, we just want the ones that are good to stand with us and say no more. I’ve had white men and women tell me that they would have never been shot in the street if their car had been broken down. They said an officer may have asked for their license and registration and then helped them push their car to the side. We have criminals who are white who get taken without being murdered and we get gunned down at a traffic stop. How much more do we need to endure? People need to stand up and say I know that this bs in America is wrong and I can’t in good conscience or faith tolerate it. Let’s stop it.

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      1. Thank you so much for the warm welcome and I look forward to having these discussions with you. I prefer being honest because I’d rather communicate until I actually understand things than just try to give the “right answers” while I pretend to.

        What we’ve been hearing in the news about cops gunning down black people is horrible. I obviously can’t speak for all white people, but I think we haven’t been aware that this is a systematic problem. We’ve seen cops that were rude or control freaks, but assumed freak accidents or rogue cops happened, not an ongoing problem. Because we don’t experience it–we’re never in fear of our lives at a traffic stop, so accepting this reality means changing everything about the fair world we thought we knew. Many people would rather believe anyone shot was somehow responsible because otherwise, the world becomes so much uglier than we thought.

        I think that acceptance is possible though, because most people aren’t monsters. If we pictured our own kids being hassled and shot by police, we’d be horrified. I think those of us starting to see the problem still don’t have a clue what to do about it, how to help. It IS wrong.

        Those micro-aggressions must be hard to take. One of my friends was telling me about how people always assumed she was on welfare and a single mom. All the stereotypes.

        I recently moved to a smaller, less diverse town and am starting to see more of this. For example, my kids and I were at a park with our new dog and met four black kids kids (two sisters and two brothers from maybe age 3 to 12). They were really nice kids who wanted to play with our dog and talk about the dogs and cats they had at home.

        Everything was fine until this little blonde boy (maybe 3 years old) wandered up and joined the group. His father instantly jumped up and said “We need to go!” He grabbed his kid and took off.

        I was left wondering if they just happened to need to leave right that second, or if the guy really had a problem with his son playing with black kids. It’s not the first time I’ve seen that kind of thing around her.

        And I wasn’t sure how to call him on it, because he could always say I was being paranoid and they just needed to leave.

        It hit me as the way this all gets started, because the little kid obviously didn’t have a problem with black people, he just wanted to join the group and play with other kids. I don’t think racism is inborn, but if his dad keeps pulling that, the kid will start thinking black people should be avoided from a really early age.

        It made me uncomfortable and I’ve seen it before. It was an older dad and maybe that means something, because I’ve seen the generational divide in my own family.

        My young cousin started hanging out with some black children. I guess the kids’ parents aren’t doing so hot but my cousin got attached to the kids and he takes them to movies and does stuff with them all the time.

        Well, he brought them over this past Christmas and at some point, they got into a room with puzzles and made a mess. ALL kids do that, and we don’t even know if it was them or my 4 year old cousin who is messy himself.

        My grandma went ballistic, asking why my cousin even hangs out with “those kids” and my cousin left with them. He was hurt and furious, but didn’t want to subject the kids to the ugly things that would be said in that argument.

        And, it’s GRANDMA. She grew up in a different time and a bunch of us were disgusted by her behavior. But will she change at this point? I don’t know if this is a good metaphor for white attitudes in general, except that there are bonafide racists as well as generational differences as well as people who mean well but haven’t always seen racism play out and don’t realize how much it’s still under the surface. Or don’t know how to handle it so they live in a bubble.

        Sorry to ramble on like that. I hope you have a wonderful day and that open conversations like this can help.

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      2. Aww, thank you. You are absolutely right. We need to take stock of these moments and start discussing them. The thing is most white people have seen or experienced how some whites whether in their family or not treat blacks. They just don’t say anything. I love when you said “Many people would rather believe anyone shot was somehow responsible because otherwise, the world becomes so much uglier than we thought.” It’s true. The world is ugly. We have to accept that and say that I don’t want that. I don’t want to be a part of a country that will say freedom of speech applies to every white man and occasionally a white woman. I mean years ago when the Dixie Chicks came out against President Bush about the war I was like “Thank you Jesus.” But then white men and sadly other white women said that they weren’t Americans and they supported the terroists. Really? Because you don’t agree with the war? Wow! I was left dumbfounded. But, you can see people wave the confederate flag or march down the street and white hoods and support them but if a black man chooses to kneel during the national anthem then he’s wrong. Let me tell you what we black folks here when white people get mad about Kapernick not standing during the national anthem…”Nigger, you better stand. You are paid to play football and you have no opinion outside of what we give you. How dare you try to say that you’re not going to support the USA.” Sounds bad right? This is why we need conversations like ours to shed light on the fact that this kind of systematic and institutionalized racism still exists and we’re tired of it. I am trying to educate my white friends on this topic because I need them to be open to the interactions of their neighbors or friends when my son is around. I want them to call bullshit on the incidences so that my son will know that they have his back. Trust me you’re not rambling and thank you again for commenting.

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