“White Privilege” & Confronting My Own Racism

When I read the essay I’ve linked below, I remembered a conversation about race I had several years ago with a black coworker, a man who I respected and who was a friend, and a safe person to discuss such things…I knew he would not be offended by my questions and would be honest in his answers. He commented that he knew that many white women were uneasy around him when they encountered him on the street. He told me he noticed the women in their cars as he walked by, the expressions on their faces as they looked to make sure their doors were locked. I thought to myself, “I do that too when I’m in my car.”

It opened my eyes to the insidious racism that infects my thinking. When I catch myself, I take conscious effort to root it out. It is a continuous effort.

At least I am aware that it exists. Awareness at least challenges me to be better, to do better, to confront these thoughts.

In the last several months , I have been confronted with the concept of “white privilege.” I’m not sure I fully comprehend yet what it means to me as a white woman, how I need to acknowledge it, and what actions I need to take in my own life to root it out, but I am trying.

“It isn’t Richard Spencer calling the cops on me for farming while Black. It’s nervous White women in yoga pants with ‘I’m with Her’ and ‘Coexist’ stickers on their German SUVs.”

A message to Charlotteville from a black farmer

My VW Cabrio gets a Makeover

Here’s some new car news for my friends who are interested….

I’ve been driving my 1996 VW Cabrio for 21 years.  It turned over 200,000 miles on the speedometer about a month or so ago.

I looked around at new cars a few months ago and didn’t see anything that excited me.  So I took my car to my mechanic and asked him to look it over carefully.  He performed some routine maintenance on it, replaced some things, and told me the car’s engine and transmission were in great shape.  So I decided to keep driving it!

I left it at a body shop for Part 1 of a two part makeover a few weeks ago and got it back this week.  Part 2 of it’s makeover happens on August 1.

Dents & Scrapes are gone!
Some new paint….
Now ready for Phase 2 of it’s makeover!
The morning I dropped it off for Phase 1 of its makeover

Click here for an update.

Atlanta’s Women’s March for Social Justice

Here’s an impressive picture that was taken of the March for Social Justice & Women in Atlanta yesterday. (I didn’t take the picture…I was one of the pink dots in the picture).

I got home too late last night to watch the evening news but my husband watched the news and told me the count was at around 60,000 marchers in Atlanta! The organizers had estimated about 10,000 marchers and yesterday morning we all woke up to pouring rain, thunder & lightening. I did not rethink my decision to go, but I hoped that the rain would not prevent others from showing up.

When took the subway to town, and when I exited the train at the CNN station I was elated to see the crowds of people that were in the station…As I emerged from the station, it was exciting to see the large crowds that were gathering up on the street level….And the rain stopped !

The subway stop was several blocks from the starting point and as I walked the crowds who were walking beside me just got bigger and bigger. It was like I was floating along in a river with branches and tributaries dumping more and more marchers into it….

It was hard to get a sense of the numbers of sisters & brothers who showed up to march, but I knew it was a lot. Every where I looked I saw crowds of people.

When I approached the park where all the crowds were gathering I was at a higher elevation and I could look down and see a large body of people. It was amazing!

Today as I read about the march in Atlanta, DC, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, and across the nation and across the globe I am humbled, joyous, elated, encouraged, and energized. And now the real work begins….