Day Seventy-Eight

So.

There's a lot happening all at once. 2020 has officially become the year every time traveller will avoid like the plague because not only are we literally surrounded by a plague, but WE ARE THE DAMN PLAGUE.

I have a lot of words that I want to say about a lot of things, but mostly I've spent my day doing my best to listen. It's an important lesson I learned a long time ago and I just wish that we had gotten somewhere since the first time I posted about that lesson. Four years have passed since I originally wrote the post below, and here we are. We now have police officers breaking into Black people's homes and murdering them in their sleep and that's not even the most egregious violation of human rights that's happened recently. I retweeted about 20 different people today, many with videos that clearly showed police using excessive force for no damn reason at all. Racism has so thoroughly infiltrated the very fabric of America that it's no longer hiding in the seams. It's out in the open, right where Black Americans have been telling us it was all along.

So, instead of adding new words to the internet, I'm going to highlight my friend Dwight's words from all those years ago. It was good advice then, and it's good advice now. We all need to listen.

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I've been called out for using racist words twice. The first time was decades ago and I handled it terribly. HORRIBLY. Fortunately, though, I was called out by someone who had the patience to deal with my stupid and who thought I was worth his time. He waited for me to be done rambling stupid words and then gave me the best advice ever. "Shut up and just listen."

Thanks, Dwight. I very much so appreciate that you taught me that little trick.

The second time I was called out, I remembered that advice, thereby saving myself from digging myself into an even bigger hole.

I suppose at this point there are a few people who are shaking their heads as they climb atop their pedestal and declare themselves better than me because they've never said anything racist. Well, remember Dwight's words? They apply here. They apply here because EVERYONE has said racist things; the issue is whether you had the self-awareness to catch yourself or if there was somebody who heard you and thought you were worth saving from yourself.

Harsh, I know, but nobody calls you out for racism if they think it's a waste of their time. That's why I haven't called out that guy I went to high school with -- his ignorance runs so deep that it's obvious he's beyond hope.

But, man, when people tell you, it's a gift. It's an incredible gift that allows you a golden opportunity to become a better person and sets you up to break the cycle. You just have to remember what Dwight said. Shut up. Listen.

The reason I've been thinking about that day Dwight taught me a thing or two about myself is that whole Wendy Bell thing. If you've managed to avoid seeing the Facebook post that was her digging herself a very deep hole, this is a good link to review. It does a most excellent job of going through what she said and why what she said was racist.

That's not up for debate, by the way. It. Was. Racist. If you don't see that it was racist, I refer you back to Dwight's advice. You have spent too much time talking and not enough time listening if you don't see it. And when I say "listening," I mean listening to hear, not listening to plan your reply. You have to listen without making the conversation about yourself and you have to listen until you understand. You will if you pay attention. Find that Black friend that you bring up every time a conversation comes up about race (because obviously you can't be racist if you have a Black friend ::eyeroll:: ) and listen. Maybe start by asking the person to tell you some stories about the racism that they have faced. They will have stories. Don't interject yourself into those stores. Just. Listen.

And that happens to be my advice to Wendy Bell. While there are lots of reasons for me to think she has deemed herself superior to me, I think maybe this time I have the advantage because I had Dwight. I also have the advantage of having paid attention to what the word "racist" means. It's not about men in white hoods setting things on fire and throwing around hate speech. It's much more subtle.

Racism is the belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another, that a person's social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics.

Wendy Bell did a bang-up job of demonstrating what that whole "traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics" thing looks like with her post. I mean, if there was a class that taught students how to write privileged white garbage, we now know for certain who should teach the class.

So, Wendy, own the fact that you wrote racist words. Stop throwing around apologies that say things like "I'm sorry you read it that way" because that is a whole other class you could teach and it would be called Passive Aggressive Crap 101. Then stop with the "I'm just being real" because I swear we covered that a few days ago here when we said "telling it like it is" is code for "I'm a jerk and I won't apologize for it."

Shut up.

Listen.

Make Dwight proud.

And for the love of donuts, don't go making sure you're photographed with a Black friend or volunteering at a soup kitchen or some crap because those tricks are all played out. The world has taught you that it's okay to be condescending towards certain Black people as long as you're mostly subtle about it, but you've been given an opportunity to see your stupid. Own it. Stop the cycle.

Together. We've got to stop the cycle together.