I'm still here

I have not abandoned my search for knowledge regarding racism and calling it out wherever it exists. I've had to take a break from it this fall while I was doing my job as a teacher. It takes so much energy to teach and doing it virtually during a pandemic makes it even harder. I think many people from all walks of life are finding the same thing about their lives. Things are just harder. People's hearts are broken in all sorts of different ways and we have to be there to support each other, to be gentle with each other. 

I just finished reading The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. In a nutshell, it gives the story one might hear if they asked the question: What would happen in the lives of two light-skinned Black women (twins) who could pass for Caucasian went their separate ways in early adulthood? One lived as a Black woman and the other lived as a white woman. One had a daughter with a Black man and one had a daughter with a white man. Many examples of racism appear throughout the story. What struck me the most was when the one who was passing as white participated in the racism of her peers -- often with the loudest voice -- all in the name of fitting in and exerting her place in a social circle that she had chosen because nobody knew she came from a Black family. 

This story is a canvas over which the extremes of race and privilege are painted like a spectrum. Poverty vs. wealth. Oppression vs. opportunity. It's all very plausible. Very realistic -- in fact, I found myself wondering how many families have experienced similar things over time. This was a neat and tidy work of fiction, but I'm sure there are many fascinating stories like this out there. 

I'd love to know them. That's why I'm here.