This past week I started a class called:
Hard Conversations:
An Introduction to Racism,
Unconscious Racism, and
Silent Racism
I’ve never cried so much about something I knew so little about. The class is taught by Patti Digh and just the reading was so overwhelming, I had to sit out of the first live conversation. I opted to listen to the recorded version and I am not sure I’ve found my voice in the topic yet. In the next few weeks I will continue down this path of interviews, readings and live conversations about racism, and I’m sure the territory will leave me more shaken than I am now.
But I must do this.
I’ve found myself on the other end of this megaphone in life advocating for a child with a disability most know nothing about. She’s just small. Will she grow out of it? Is she adopted? You know that’s a fetish? Freak. Oh I love that show. Can I pick her up? Can I take her picture? I’m small, too. Have you seen those wrestlers? Like a midget? Explanations like: fairy, leprechaun, magical, like in Snow White…
I’ve spent 3 years with tunnel vision educating and advocating for my child to the same people who still don’t seem to get it. And while the actual people may change, the message is still heard: others lives just don’t matter as much as their own.
As a community, we are seeking to understand, to learn, to deepen our knowledge of racism. We want to learn how to become more effective White allies against racism. By enrolling in this course, you are committing to reading all the materials provided in our online classroom, asking honest and respectful questions, and being open to hearing opinions that are different from your own–with an eye to learning, not judging.
We need to change. These conversations are hard. As Patti writes, these conversations are not easy. This class is not about easy. We are here to peer into a window that we do not understand, that many of us will never know, but that does not mean we should not be aware. As the tears stream down my face, I sit in my home with a fan blowing across my body, my children are safely playing, my husband busy at work… that is my privilege and that should be a right. We have a right to feel comfortable and safe every day.
As I continue my advocacy journey, I must also grow. I need to learn as I teach, and teach as I learn. To teach online
and in every day actions. I hope you also take the opportunity to learn, grow and become aware- while this is a hard topic, if you would like to safely and civilly open a dialogue in the comments, I’d love to grow with you.
I think that you were blessed for a reason. Stay on your journey 🙂
harriet recently posted…The Five New Trends in Back To School Style
Thank you, Harriet!
Chelley @ A is for Adelaide recently posted…Hard Conversations: An Introduction
Thank you for sharing this! I think that many of us should have to take such a class!
Kristen from The Road to Domestication recently posted…Simple Vegetable Garden Tips
I think this is such an eye opening course- I agree!
Chelley @ A is for Adelaide recently posted…Hard Conversations: An Introduction
This is one class that should be required in college-freshman year-if not in the senior year of high school or maybe even before. No, it is not an easy topic and racism takes many different faces, all of which we should be aware of.
Michele recently posted…$100 Amazon GC GA-Madison’s Song-Christine Amsden-Ends 10/10
YES! I could see this becoming an integral part of HS curriculum- for sure.
Chelley @ A is for Adelaide recently posted…Hard Conversations: An Introduction
I’m glad that this type of conversation is not taboo anymore. It’s so important that we have these discourses with one another in order to affect change.
Toughcookiemommy recently posted…DIY Minions Sugar Cookies Decorating #FandangoFamily @Fandango $50 GC #Giveaway #Ad
Yes! 100% yes!
Chelley @ A is for Adelaide recently posted…Cloth Maintenance 101: How to Maintain Common Types of Fabric You Find In Your Living Room
Chelley, I applaud you for going down a dark and painful road that some would never deign to walk on or even acknowledge. Racism is alive and well, ugly, and hurtful. It diminishes us all. It exists everywhere; including in the blogging world which is a microcosm of the world we inhabit. Until all of us make a concerted effort to look prejudice (our own and others) in the eyes and disown it, it will remain a thorn in our collective flesh. You know my story I shared and my position on the subject … Stay Lifted and strong! 🙂
Elizabeth
Your words ring deep. We ALL need to be in this- so so true.
Chelley @ A is for Adelaide recently posted…Cloth Maintenance 101: How to Maintain Common Types of Fabric You Find In Your Living Room
Thank you for this lovely share… I needed to read something like this, Chelley!
Lily Lau recently posted…15 Of The Most Spectacular Caves Around The World
Thank you for reading!
Chelley @ A is for Adelaide recently posted…Cloth Maintenance 101: How to Maintain Common Types of Fabric You Find In Your Living Room