For anyone who needs to see this....

Black lives matter, and anyone who doesn’t understand why this needs to be said, or why it needs to be said on behalf of all marginalized groups, needs to pull his/her head out of his/her derrière, and look around at what has been going on in this country for centuries.  Nothing will change as long as we pretend that nothing is wrong.  All that does is make us look ignorant at best, and complicit at worst.

If your retort is that you’re “color-blind,” or “don’t notice skin color,” then you’re deluding yourself.  Do you see the color of an individual’s eyes or hair?  How about his/her height, or the presence of facial hair and/or jewelry?  We all notice these things, and they become part of our descriptions of people’s physical characteristics all the time.  Therefore, you notice skin color.  If you choose not to acknowledge it, then that’s a sign of your privilege, as Black people cannot ignore theirs.  If they do, it could mean their very lives will be forfeit, even in the 21st century.  If, by saying that you “don’t see color,” you’re talking about your lack of racism, then you are ignoring the experiences of all people of color, as well as deceiving yourself.  We all form prejudices;  it’s a natural component of our biology as animals.  Animals respond to fight-or-flight impulses, which they form on the bases of past experiences.  If you call your dog and then hit it when it comes to you, then what will happen when someone else tries to call the dog?  The dog won’t come;  it has formed an innate prejudice against humans based on its past experiences.

Our prejudices work the same way.  We cannot help them;  they are reflexive.  What we do have control over, is how we respond to these prejudices.  Do we automatically give into them or willfully ignore them?  If so, then we are giving into our most animalistic impulses.  As human beings, we must use our intellect, in order to acknowledge these unconscious biases, so that we can understand their irrationality and replace them with rational, constructive behaviors.  We must admit what we do not understand and what frightens us about it, and we must ask for help from people who are more knowledgeable than we, so that we might continue to explore and to learn.  Only by acknowledging the beauty inherent in diversity can we begin to teach not just tolerance, but acceptance.