![]() ![]() Confronting my own racist conditioning (the unconscious belief that I am somehow entitled to the privileges of my whiteness) has been like discovering I have been host carrier for a highly infectious disease, without displaying any symptoms. Thing is, what makes a space “white” is not just the ethnicity of those occupying it-it is the entitlement, the education, the opportunities, and the affluence that are available. We are a pack-oriented species, we move in groups, and we gravitate towards our own. Of course, as a white person, my life has been a procession of predominantly white spaces. Where these discrepancies are routinely normalized to the point of invisibility. A world, after moving to NYC, where nine out of 10 of the service jobs (as far as I can see) are performed by people of color. Where every TV show, awards ceremony (besides those attached to sporting events), industry bash, and beach holiday has been predominantly white. Where in 16 years working as a journalist in London, I encountered only one black colleague-who was subjected to subtle racial bullying. Where I had not one teacher with darker skin than me. A world where I can count the number of black and brown people in my school classrooms on two hands. And yet, on closer inspection, this does not reflect the world that I grew up in. After all, I was raised to consider the term “racist” to be on a par with “pedophile,” the knee-jerk reaction on hearing it applied to me to deny it, vehemently. I have also been slow to speak up on this issue because I am ashamed I didn’t get here sooner. I have felt my throat constrict as I have tried to swallow this jagged little pill, while simultaneously being made aware that taking time in silence to absorb and process this information is another function of my privilege. As they apply to each and every one of us. What’s new is that my eyes are now open to exactly how insidious our acceptance of this has become.ĭuring this time, I have struggled against my own conditioning (“but I’m not racist!”) to accept that alarming terms like “white supremacy” and “systemic racism” absolutely apply to me. Not that the ravages wrought on marginalized and indigenous people by “the system” is exactly news. Sort of like the opposite of rose-tinted-spectacles, through this lens I have been able to see how the circumstances of my birth and my upbringing have placed me within a system of oppression-in which my whiteness makes me the oppressor. To be more specific, in my case this also extends to my educated, mixed-class, hetero, married, cis-gender, thin, white privilege. Meaning, through which I can no longer not see the world. A term that was barely on my radar two summers ago, and which, thanks to everything from Black Lives Matter to the voices of women like Layla Saad (among many others) has since become the lens through which I see the world. This time has been a period of awakening in which the notions of liberation and oppression have taken on extra weight for me- as they will have for anybody with so much as a toe in the healing, wellness, and self-help communities.Īs a socially conscious person in a post-Trump era, I know I have not been alone in attempting to integrate the implications of my white privilege. president.” And in the 18 months since, this prediction has played out in every area of life. angel writes: “We foresee an increasing collective anxiety about transitioning from the first Black U.S. ![]() Published in 2016 in a rush ahead of the last U.S. Means living free of the chains which seek to bind us, free to be unapologetically ourselves, unbeholden to any systems of oppression. angel, along with co-authors Lama Rod Owens and Jasmine Syedullah, PhD, (also both Black and queer) explain how genuine liberation means not needing to escape, because there is no longer anything to escape from. The subtitle is “Race, Love and Liberation” and in it, Rev. angel Kyodo williams, a queer Black (her capitalization) Buddhist author and activist. Because this year I am more interested in the notion of escape as it pertains to liberation. But you likely won’t find the book I am going to recommend as your “must-read” for summer 2018 among them. For anybody confused about your role in this, make Radical Dharma your must-read this summer …Īround this time of year, book stores and magazines are filled with suggested summer reads, the books the publishing industry has decided will best satisfy our yearning to escape into a good read. Eradicating systemic racism is THE healing issue of our times. ![]()
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