White People, We See You

"Don't spend so much energy fighting this idea that you could possibly be racist. That's a total waste of energy. It's like a bunch of White people lined up, hiding behind this real skinny pole. And we see you. We already know you're racist, so, get over yourselves."

– Anika Nailah

We see you rolling up your window driving through the "bad part of town."

We see the ten (out of eleven) of you on the leadership team.

We see you move train cars on the subway.

We see you give the promotion to the less qualified White person instead of the more qualified Black person.

We see you not talking to the Black family at the kindergarten pickup.

We see you talking over your Black colleague at the meeting.

We see you clutch your purse walking out of the coffee shop.

We see you shorten your co-worker's name because you haven't learned to pronounce it.

We see you using euphemisms like "ghetto" and "urban" and "inner city."

White people, we see you. It's too easy to see you. Stop pretending that we don't see you.

Stop pretending that you're not racist. Recognize and accept that you regularly do and say and think racist things.

And then intentionally try to stop doing and saying and thinking those things.

That's a much better use of your energy. And more beneficial for everyone involved.