Ok. So I was really trying to un-see this tweet from last week but the more I tried to not think about it, the more I thought about it.
I’m hoping with all my heart that this person {late teens, female, non-POC} was just trying to get a rise or response or just acting out of boredom.
I’m hoping.
Since that post I’ve seen many, many other things that have given me pause and made me scratch my head a bit. I know that like religion, we should never ever ever ever bring up race in a discussion. It’s a “bad” word, right up there with the best swear words.
However, I remain troubled. From Madonna hashtagging a picture of her son using the N word, to some of the rather disgusting comments about Richard Sherman after the NFC Championship game because of his behavior, it seems like more than ever we NEED to talk about race.
I don’t pretend to be so naive as to think that this society will ever be kumbyah. Ever. But there are SO many stops on the journey prior to that place: knowledge sharing, conversation, question asking, understanding and respect to name a few.
Racism and other race issues are not simply a problem for POC but for ALL of us. If we never discuss it, then how do we move past it? If we never teach racial or social justice, how will people know to make a different or better choice before purposely harming someone {physically, emotionally, psychologically}.
Because as this young lady reminded; like so many learned behaviors, the act of racism is indeed a choice.
So let’s start by making some better choices. Even if no one knows but us that we made it, every better choice is a better choice.
Copyright © 2014 Tamika Brown and TheFynePrynt.com.
The Fyne Prynt 