If you’re a good white person, you might find some major internal resistance kicking in about right now. Counter-arguments often immediately surface in white people to any notion that we are responsible in any way for the continuance of racism. I understand. I’ve been there. We white people are very sensitive to feeling unjustly accused of something we believe we had no hand in creating nor maintaining. I’ll give you a pass on not creating racism, but each us doing damage if we are not actively working to counter racism.

I am writing plead with you to take an honest look at the privileges in your life that your white skin affords you. Those privileges are the proof that we live in two very different America’s, depending on the color of your skin. If you are willing acknowledge that inequality and you believe in a just and equitable world, it becomes untenable to continue to stay silent and to reap the benefits of that inequality.

The time for change is now.

George Floyd gave the world an enduring image that was so disturbing that it became the tipping point for a tolerance of continued racism. The embers of racism were stoked and have grown into a bonfire of momentum where more and more white people are awakening to the reality that America can no longer stay in denial about the racism that is prevalent in our major institutions, our culture, and in our daily lives. It is time for change—real change.

I was lulled to sleep by the Civil Rights Act in 1965 and consoled myself by saying that change was slow, but we were making progress. I told myself that the election of Barack Obama was surely evidence of great progress. Imagine America giving more votes to a black man than one who was white! But one black man’s success was not indicative of white acceptance. In fact, there was a backlash against his presidency that revealed a deep and unhealed prejudice toward those with black skin. That backlash only got stronger during the four years of Donald Trump’s presidency.

I will explore many different facets of our dominant white culture in other blogs with the hope that, if you are a person with white skin, that you will come to the realization that if you are not actively working to end racism, that you are supporting it. That’s a very hard concept for us white people to wrap our heads around, but if racial justice and racial equity are ever going to come to fruition, it will take white people to make that change happen. We have the power and that’s a privilege that we can put to good use. That’s a privilege that we must use to create positive change.