Racial Reconciliation
Oreon K Trickey
May 30, 2009
I am concerned for all of us who are white.
Concerned about our inattentiveness
Our lack of awareness concerning our lack of awareness
We possess a certain casualness around the issues of race
Clothed in perspectives that keep us warm
and protect us from the harsh climate around us
It goes deeper, much deeper
than employment
or education
or reparations
or human rights
It has to do with
power
accessibility
and safety nets
And even deeper…
values
mindsets
Assumptions that we hold dear
as part of our dna
genetically inherited we think
part of the basic human existence
But we are unaware of the luxuries we possess
I won’t label this white privilege
or entitlement
they are too inflammatory
How can we know the uniqueness
of browsing at a store without being watched
of being pulled over by an officer without being anxious
that this is another instance of DWB
of our ability to live wherever we please
We live with the assumption that we work hard
and we deserve what we have earned
We think that the American dream is for all of America
Never realizing for a moment that our dream
has been purchased by the nightmares
of others.
We are unaware
of the fact
that for centuries
people of color have deftly
entered our minds
have learned to be adept
at speaking and acting
in ways that
allow us to believe that
they consider us as friends
that they are fine with us as we are
The easy laughter is deceptive
the warm welcome and quiet dignity
offer folks of color a cloak
that covers the frustration
anger
resentment
even hate
A cloak of survival
worn by poor and rich
uneducated and phds
It has proven to be an
essential garment
to stay strong in the midst
of imposed weakness
to stay alive in the winter of
our ignorance.
And then there’s the myth
that grand blaming the victim
that many of us fall into
It says that if we were born
in Cabrini Green
to a drug-addicted mother
and a gang-banging father
we would have still ended up
where we are today
sitting in a comfortable room
discussing reconciliation
as if it were something
we know anything about.
Oreon K Trickey
May 30, 2009
I am concerned for all of us who are white.
Concerned about our inattentiveness
Our lack of awareness concerning our lack of awareness
We possess a certain casualness around the issues of race
Clothed in perspectives that keep us warm
and protect us from the harsh climate around us
It goes deeper, much deeper
than employment
or education
or reparations
or human rights
It has to do with
power
accessibility
and safety nets
And even deeper…
values
mindsets
Assumptions that we hold dear
as part of our dna
genetically inherited we think
part of the basic human existence
But we are unaware of the luxuries we possess
I won’t label this white privilege
or entitlement
they are too inflammatory
How can we know the uniqueness
of browsing at a store without being watched
of being pulled over by an officer without being anxious
that this is another instance of DWB
of our ability to live wherever we please
We live with the assumption that we work hard
and we deserve what we have earned
We think that the American dream is for all of America
Never realizing for a moment that our dream
has been purchased by the nightmares
of others.
We are unaware
of the fact
that for centuries
people of color have deftly
entered our minds
have learned to be adept
at speaking and acting
in ways that
allow us to believe that
they consider us as friends
that they are fine with us as we are
The easy laughter is deceptive
the warm welcome and quiet dignity
offer folks of color a cloak
that covers the frustration
anger
resentment
even hate
A cloak of survival
worn by poor and rich
uneducated and phds
It has proven to be an
essential garment
to stay strong in the midst
of imposed weakness
to stay alive in the winter of
our ignorance.
And then there’s the myth
that grand blaming the victim
that many of us fall into
It says that if we were born
in Cabrini Green
to a drug-addicted mother
and a gang-banging father
we would have still ended up
where we are today
sitting in a comfortable room
discussing reconciliation
as if it were something
we know anything about.
