You wake up, smack the alarm into silence and consider your day. 7:30 drop the kids off at school, 8:30 meeting at the office. Maybe after work, it’s yoga or drinks with friends. Or dinner with the family.
You see the violence and hate-filled news and think, “This is so tiring” or “This is so annoying”. And you go about your day, only temporarily put out by what you’ve seen.
But guess what? It’s the color of your skin that allows you that privilege. That opportunity to ignore those things, because why? Watching it on the news is as close as it will likely get to you in your bubble. I use the word “opportunity” and not “ability” because while some may be able to block things out, they aren’t given the opportunity to do so.
Why?
Because when they look in the mirror, they see skin that’s not white. They don’t see things like wife/mother/husband/brother/educator/volunteer – the first thing they see is the color of their skin. Because we’ve taught them to do so.