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Question: Why Must We Still Talk About Race? Answer: Twelve. [View all]
MaryAnn McKibben Dana
Author, speaker, free-range pastor
The institution of slavery persisted for twelve generations of African Americans.
How long do you think it should take to dismantle twelve generations of racial oppression, not to mention Reconstruction, Jim Crow and its aftermath? Should we be "over it" by now? Ask my friend, who couldn't get a job interview until she removed her "black-sounding" name from her resume, whether it's over. Ask the black men in our communities, who are seven times more likely than whites to die by police gunfire, whether it's over.
My mother has an expression, "When it's on you, it's on you." I didn't ask for it to be on me--the privilege that comes from being white--but it's on me. And I'm fooling only myself if I try and insist otherwise, just because we passed the Civil Rights Act and elected a black President.
It's not about guilt. Guilt is a distraction, a side show, a dead end. My people did not own slaves. But the state of my birth fought under the Confederate flag. And contrary to popular belief, my white children will be more likely to receive a college scholarship than their friends who are people of color.
When it's on you, it's on you. And now it's on all of us to talk about it--and also to listen.
How long do you think it should take to dismantle twelve generations of racial oppression, not to mention Reconstruction, Jim Crow and its aftermath? Should we be "over it" by now? Ask my friend, who couldn't get a job interview until she removed her "black-sounding" name from her resume, whether it's over. Ask the black men in our communities, who are seven times more likely than whites to die by police gunfire, whether it's over.
My mother has an expression, "When it's on you, it's on you." I didn't ask for it to be on me--the privilege that comes from being white--but it's on me. And I'm fooling only myself if I try and insist otherwise, just because we passed the Civil Rights Act and elected a black President.
It's not about guilt. Guilt is a distraction, a side show, a dead end. My people did not own slaves. But the state of my birth fought under the Confederate flag. And contrary to popular belief, my white children will be more likely to receive a college scholarship than their friends who are people of color.
When it's on you, it's on you. And now it's on all of us to talk about it--and also to listen.
Read More http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maryann-mckibben-dana/question-why-must-we-stil_b_7968828.html?utm_hp_ref=black-voices&ir=Black%20Voices
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