This post originally appeared on LinkedIn on November 19, 2021, the day Kyle Rittenhouse was not convicted of murder.
I've started to write a post three times. I deleted the first one because it wasn't angry enough. I deleted the second one because it was too angry. I deleted the third one because it was too philosophical.
I guess even as I write this fourth effort, I still don't know what to say.
Maybe as I type these words, what I want to say will emerge. Or, what I will have said will have emerged.
I guess what I want to say is fuck the American "justice" system.
I guess what I want to say is fuck White supremacy.
I guess what I want to say is fuck the status quo, systemic racism, White privilege, bias, and the perpetuation of the narrative of the privileged majority.
And fuck 17-year-old White kids with automatic weapons.
But, I don't know, is that what I really wanted to say? Does that make feel any better? Any more useful? Any more helpful? Any more human?
Not really. But what else is there?
I will say this to my BIPOC friends and colleagues and connections.
I see you. I know you're hurting. I am here to offer support in any way I can.
And I will say this to White people: Today is why we do the work. Today is the clearest example there can be of why we all need to do the work.
White folks, do the work. Do it with compassion. Do it with intentionality. Do it for humanity—your own and others'.