White mother of black children (and white children) tells it like it is. [View all]

[pnwmom]

Everywhere they go, her black children are treated differently.

http://www.dailyo.in/variety/black-lives-matter-alton-sterling-dallas-police-shooting-donald-trump/story/1/11936.html

As a white mother of two black children and three white children, who all have a white father, I have something to say. Racism exists. It is real and tangible. And it is everywhere, all the time.

When I brought my boys home they were the cutest, sweetest babies ever. Wherever we went, people greeted us with charm and enthusiasm. Well, not all people and not everywhere. But, to me, they were the "wacko" exceptions. I thought to myself, "Get over it".

Now my boys are teenagers. Black teenagers. They are 13.

Let me ask you these questions.

Do store personnel follow your children when they are picking out their Gatorade flavors? They don't follow my white kids.

SNIP

The reason why the phrase "All Lives Matter" is offensive to black people is because it isn't true. Right now, in America, my black children are treated differently than my white children.

So when you say "All Lives Matter" as a response to the phrase "Black Lives Matter" you are completely dismissing the near daily experience of racism for those with pigment in their skin, curl in their hair and broadness of their nose.

I am posting this so you can see the reality I have witnessed and experienced, because, frankly, I didn't believe it was true until I saw it up close, directed at two souls I love, over and over again.

So, please, use this post as a pair of glasses to see the racism that surrounds you. Then we can actually make progress towards all lives being valued and cherished.