There is a lot in here to make you uncomfortable but if this is the case for you then it is important to push through and keep reading. The intent isn't to make you stop reading but to point out important concepts and hopefully change you. If you find yourself agreeing with the thoughts and you are at the stage where you wonder what you can do to be a productive and useful ally then there is a lot in here for you too including an incredible reading list.
I know of Dyson from seeing him on TV and finding myself always wanting to hear more. I knew he was smart and outspoken but this was an incredible read. He writes it as a sermon and you can hear it as such in your head and it is powerful.
I am a white Jewish woman. And while there are issues with being a woman and Jewish that don't grant me the full measure of equality, safety, and comfort as is afforded white men I am painfully aware that just walking around in "white" skin affords me a huge level of privilege. If I get pulled over by the police while driving I am scared that I will get a huge ticket I can't afford, my insurance will go up, worry about what I may have done, but I do not for even a second fear for my life. When I walk into a store I am not followed or looked at askance by the employees, and when I walk down the street or get into an elevator no one is frightened of me. And I am not ok with this.
It is partly because I am by my very nature and compassionate and empathetic person. But is also by what I was exposed to as a child and where I am in my life as a parent. I grew up in Brooklyn New York and lived in the projects and am a product of the beautifully diverse New York City Public School system.
Also, I have three children, two of which are sons. One is an 11 year old and he is a white young man. The other is 25 and is a young black man. I have had to have two sets of conversations with them.
I never have to tell my younger son that women may see him coming and hold their purses tighter, cross the street, or step off an elevator. I have had some version of that conversation with my older son.
I have never had to tell my younger son that he will get stopped by the police for no reason at all and on many occasions and that if he doesn't do it just so an encounter with a police officer could cost him his life or that even if done just right he could still end up paying for the encounter with his life. I have had some version of that conversation with my older son.
I needed this book to guide me in my quest to be the kind of ally my son needs, my friends need, and the many other members of the black and brown portion of the population need. Because until white people put down their "whiteness" and pick up their humanity people of color won't be able to step out of the terrible place of oppression and submission they have been forced into, sometimes in chains, and take their rightful place as full and equal members of society.
Please read this book. And then seek out and read as much of the suggested readings mentioned at the end of it.
(Finished August 17, 2017)
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