The People That Want Me To Stop Writing About Racism Are Black Like Me

They think it makes them look bad. WTF

A Black, female family friend called me the other day. I’ve known her for over 40 years. When I wrote my first article about racism in June 2020, just after George Floyd’s murder, she called to congratulate me and thank me for taking a vocal and public stance against social injustice.

It turns out that she was fine with it as long I didn’t continue writing about racism. Today she doesn’t want to be seen with me.

“You’re making me look bad — you’re making all our community in Geneva look bad with your work”, she said.

I did a bit of a double-take when she said this. I didn’t understand how my talking about my personal experiences with racism could rub off on her in a “bad” way. I was slightly irked.

And then she started insisting.

“Well, we are strangers in this country. We should be grateful white folks have allowed us to stay here. We should be thanking them rather than criticizing them”.

I felt the heat rise to my face. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“I mean, I don’t deny there is racism here, but why do you have to talk about it?”

“Because when you don’t talk about it, it continues. I’m going to do my best to sensitize white people to racism so that they change their behaviors. I’m not going to sit here and take it in. I’m not waiting out a life sentence in this Black skin”, I said.

She seemed aggravated by my response and quickly found an excuse to hang up.

I laid awake that night thinking about my antiracism work. I know that it has educated many people and also led to behavioral change. I know that because many people write to me to tell me I have helped them change or become antiracists.

As far as I am concerned, I will continue to write about racism, to challenge racists, to smoke them out of their hiding places.

I will continue to fight against this man-made social construct that has killed and sickened millions of Black and brown folk around the world — a scourge that is tantamount to multiple genocides on Black lives.

My family friend thinks that my activities reflect badly on her. I was polite but what I really wanted to say to her was that it was because of people like her that racism honkers down and makes itself comfortable in society.

When Black people are telling you not to speak about racism, there’s a problem.

I will continue to shed light on racism, be it interpersonal or systemic. Whether it’s here or on my new blog on Substack — which I would love for you to subscribe to here: https://diaryofablackwomaninawhiteworld.substack.com/

I am putting my two children through university and so if you take out a paid subscription, you would be helping me to do this. I’m sure you’d love the content which is this Black woman’s perspective on world events.

I will continue to provide thought-provoking content to help dismantle racism because that is what is needed if we ever want to see a change in the world.

My family friend gave me an ultimatum. It was either I stop writing about racism or she would no longer speak to me.

Well, I guess, there’s one less person in the world that I’ll be speaking to as of today.

I have children, I want their world to be a less racist world — even an antiracist one. By the look of things in Florida at the moment, we still have a long way to go and you can be sure that I won’t abandon the journey half-way.

Thank you for reading my perspective.