Do you know of any private online groups...

[OneGrassRoot]

10. I don't blame you at all, 1StrongBlackMan...

I can't imagine telling anyone what they should believe or that their experience isn't real. About anything.

That's just it: I'm hyper-aware that our opinions and views and perspectives are based on our individual life experiences, which vary tremendously. I've always been sincerely interested in others' perspectives, and the experiences which led to them, so I can have a better "big picture" view of the world and humanity.

I feel fairly comfortable that my perspective is one that is pretty fully informed about the mindset of many (though certainly not all) white people in the United States who hold racist views, regardless of where in the country they live or their socioeconomic status. Not only did I grow up in a viciously racist environment, I've been "blessed" throughout my life to always find myself around people with those views to varying degrees. It didn't take long to realize how pervasive it is and that it's institutionalized and systemic.

Still, it's only in the last five years or so that I've been focused on the flip-side of racism and discrimination: white privilege. It's said that trying to explain white privilege to white people is like explaining water to fish. As a white person, I'm so immersed in it that I would appreciate help waking up to the specifics even more.

Shoot, I'm sharing so much in this thread that it may be possible to have these discussions here, if people don't feel I'm intruding in doing so and if people realize my intentions are not to convince anyone else of anything, but to learn about others' experiences and views and feelings about many things as it concerns racism.

As it concerns racism, the only time I get forceful in interactions is when anyone says or implies that it isn't a huge problem any more or denies that it's institutionalized. I know that is not true. Period. End of story. So I speak up to share my perspective and experiences in that regard.

Thanks.