There are plenty of White people around who consider themselves progressive around the issue of race. As I planned, my book serves as an excellent conversation piece around this issue. Unfortunately, I've been disappointed because I haven't come in contact with a so-called progressive White person yet who passes the litimus test.....The ability to see racism outside of your White privilege experiences. What I mean, is they will give you all of the obligatory acknowledges about racism and its impact on people of color, but then they always start talking about how they themselves never did anything to cause racism so they don't understand why African people treated them a certain way at a certain time. Why is it that we can't see they are here to help? First, the fact you didn't do anything is errorneous. Every time you wake up you benefit from racism plain and simple so it's not about what you didn't do. Its about what you are doing to eradicate the system that created privilege for you at the expense of peopel of color. I mean damn! Can't you get it through your head that racism isn't about you?! The discomfort and even trauma you may have experienced is simply a part of the process produced by the racist system we live within. Maybe you could see that if you weren't so much more focused on your feelings instead of the suffering the victims of racism experience. Maybe if you tried looking at this trauma from the perspective of the people experiencing it you would see that suffering is so psychologically devastating that what you experience is only the residual impact of the problem, not the equally damaging element you try to make it out to be. Realize that your ability to see things in such a selfish way is the manifestation of your White privilege....Everything is always seen from your White perspective and that perspective is the only one that really matters right?. Our suffering e.g. the fact we die faster, live a much less quality life, and have an income that is the smallest percentage of yours than it's been in the last 25 years is much less important than your hurt feelings because an African yelled at you or even beat your ass years ago. If you really want to be anti-racist get over yourself. As an African man, I realize there are privileges to being a man and I'm not going to insult women of any nationality by trying to argue that my suffering due to racism reduces in some way the suffeirng women as a whole, especially women of color, experience. I'm not going to try and always force women to see my suffeirng and reduce the impact that sexism has. I'm going to listen to them and learn because that's really the only way we can get stronger, how I can get stronger, to become an even better fighting machine to bring about justice on this planet....That is if that's really what your objective is.....I don't know....It may be that all you really care about is just to get sympathy for being disrespected by some African years ago. If that's the case you should know you won't be fooling any of us
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