The Confusion

After an admittedly stressful beginning to fall break filled with either writing papers or agonizing about writing papers, I have yet to start reading White Like Me. However, there is something I wanted to vent about before breaking into the reading...

Two years ago I was in an African American Studies course here at Ursinus that completely changed the way I viewed race. While a lot of different readings and workshops and lectures brought me to radically reconsider how I viewed the issue of race in our society, going to see Tim Wise speak at West Chester was one of the more influential encounters I had that brought me to change my opinions.

Now I don't remember much of what he said if I'm being honest (I remember thinking that he wouldn't be the kind of guy I think I could tolerate for more than an hour or two). And while his personality was mildly off-putting, seeing a white man stand up and actually acknowledge white privilege and why it was wrong in public setting was amazing. At this point, white privilege was a relatively new concept to me (well the theory itself was, I'd been living in it my whole life) thus it was legitimately powerful. As Wise spoke, all of this race talk was finally making sense and the mechanisms in our society which perpetuated a system of inequality were illuminated. I felt as though maybe I was starting to get it. Then I remember a sort of call to arms, urging anti-racists to combat the racial injustice in our society today. I was inspired, but confused... as I still am.

All of this anti-racist talk is great, but no one takes a white person (other than Tim Wise) seriously when they talk about it. White people think I'm overreacting/don't want to hear what I have to say because it would force them to face their racist tendencies. Black people think I'm another white kid who wants to get up on my liberal high horse and chant "equality" from the hilltops because it will make me "different". Am I using rash generalizations right now? Yes. But that's how I feel when it comes to vocalizing my opinions on the issue of race. I'm not sure if it's because I'm white or a female or both but no one wants to take my opinions seriously. On the same note, I'm not sure if I can even take my opinions seriously because really, what am I supposed to do about the issue of race? I care about it. I want to see things change. But this is a socially embedded problem that I can't just fix and if people only want me to shut up when I start talking about the issue, what am I supposed to do?

This is a confusing post brought to you by a confusing girl talking about a confusing issue. Hopefully White Like Me will provide some clarity.