"I can tell that I shouldn’t be granting myself a lot of opinions about racism in America"
I think a lot of white people feel this way, but it's not true at all. You should (and it seems that you do) recognise that you may have blind spots. You likely won't fully understand the challenges black people face in America because you haven't e…
"I can tell that I shouldn’t be granting myself a lot of opinions about racism in America"
I think a lot of white people feel this way, but it's not true at all. You should (and it seems that you do) recognise that you may have blind spots. You likely won't fully understand the challenges black people face in America because you haven't experienced them yourself. But if you care (and again, it seems that you do), then that's what matters.
You can learn about the challenges black people face. You can read about racial history and talk to your friends about their experiences. Just as you might do if you wanted to better understand the struggles of women or the LGBT community or heck, just a friend of yours who's been through something you haven't.
Empathy is the key to all this. Not keeping your mouth shut or invalidating your own opinion unless you look exactly like the person who is suffering. This *reduces* the number of people who can engage and help. The idea that only black people should have an opinion on racism or only women should have an opinion on sexism is completely backwards
"I can tell that I shouldn’t be granting myself a lot of opinions about racism in America"
I think a lot of white people feel this way, but it's not true at all. You should (and it seems that you do) recognise that you may have blind spots. You likely won't fully understand the challenges black people face in America because you haven't experienced them yourself. But if you care (and again, it seems that you do), then that's what matters.
You can learn about the challenges black people face. You can read about racial history and talk to your friends about their experiences. Just as you might do if you wanted to better understand the struggles of women or the LGBT community or heck, just a friend of yours who's been through something you haven't.
Empathy is the key to all this. Not keeping your mouth shut or invalidating your own opinion unless you look exactly like the person who is suffering. This *reduces* the number of people who can engage and help. The idea that only black people should have an opinion on racism or only women should have an opinion on sexism is completely backwards