Racist or Anti-Racist?
I’ve had the issues that I discussed yesterday at the
forefront of my mind since then. I hope that I can continue to maintain the
urgency I feel to actively dismantle racism.
On the plane ride home, I struck up a conversation with a
pilot who was sitting next to me. He was reading a book about astronomy, and so
we chatted about the stars. I recommended visiting the observatory outside of
Marfa, TX. I explained that my favorite part was lying down and watching
different constellations pointed out with the laser pointer. He shared that he
had purchased his own powerful laser pointer for astronomical reasons. When he
first got it, he opened the package and tried it out for the first time at a
gas station. Suddenly, a nearby police officer was really agitated. Apparently,
the laser was so powerful that it refracted off the windshield and ended up
shining on a police officer’s chest.
I immediately thought of all the black people who have been killed
because of their perceived threat to police offers. And here was a white male
who doesn’t have to carry around fear in the same way. So I said, “It’s a good
thing you aren’t a black person because that may have gotten you killed.”
After I said it, I realized that it could have
been perceived as a racist joke rather than an opportunity to point out white
male privilege in an attempt to dismantle it. I’m still not sure how he
received it. In the end, I’m not sure it was the right thing to say. I know we
need to talk about race and racism a whole lot more, but I’m still learning how
to do it in ways that push the movement forward as quickly as possible. This
work is definitely messy and complicated.
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1 comment:
Thanks for sharing this experience. It can be really hard to talk about racism, and I'm pretty sure as white people we will fail sometimes - but sharing that you are doing it even if it's not perfect all the time is really important.
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