Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/courageous-conversations-and-actions/5023562/
“We need dinner table conversations about how some white people grow up without a racist bone in their body but others are predisposed to sing songs about ‘n____’ on a frat bus.
How does that happen?
What is the cause?
What is the solution?
White people need to
drive this dialogue.”
Joshua Dubois
With rising tensions across our country over the last year, including increased occurrences of hate crimes, it’s tempting to slip into separate silos of fear and only engage with folks who share our same views or experiences. But that diminishes our humanity and erodes our democratic ideals and our country’s founding aspirations of liberty and justice for all. Do we want fear to grow larger than a curious mind and generous spirit?
Though we don’t always feel like we have power, in the context of systemic racism and institutionalized privileges, those of us with white-skinned privilege and financial security have the most sanctioned influence to change or support inequities. That’s why Joshua Dubois says white people need to drive this dialogue. And while our professional code of ethics and anti-bias goals compel us to respect diversity, most white people don’t like to be pushed out of ...