Andrew “A true fan not only roots for the team, and the players, but also for what those players stand for. If a group as diverse as an NFL football team, or any other sports team, can agree on things and stand (or kneel, or whatever else they choose to do) in unity I have no idea why anyone can't. They're human beings just like you and I and bleed the same blood as you and I. People think that they are disrespecting the flag, the anthem, or the military. THEY AREN'T!!!! Ask any military person and the vast majority of them will tell you that they do not feel disrespected and that the players have every right to do what they're doing. And yes, I served!! They will say that that is what they fought for, and are fighting for. Every person's right to stand for what they believe in. Again, they are human beings just like you and I. You may say that they're there to entertain you and that's what it is entertainment. We ALL need to be in UNITY to make this country and world a better place.”

Katie “I am white and I take it for granted. I have never had to think about the color of my skin. This is white privilege. I have taken for granted  the myriad of privileges and advantages that are afforded to me because of the color of my skin. There are too many to list. I never had to educate my kids on systemic racism or their own daily physical protection. This I took for granted. I can move through life without being racially profiled or unfairly stereotyped. I have unconscious advantages that I am now more aware of. For me at this junction of my life, and if our nation is going to heal, I must first start with my own awareness of judgments and inbred racist thoughts. I'm trying to learn and recognize my own privilege therefore using my own privilege to hopefully help dismantle systemic racism.”

Chloe “When I hear of the violence and murderous behaviour of police directed toward people of colour, I’m angered beyond words. When the very people who are supposedly hired, trained, vetted and paid to protect and serve a community, are in fact, the perpetrators of terror and violence, how are any of us safe if we aren’t all safe? When there is a police officer kneeling on a man’s neck, remorselessly, as both the man and others beg for his mercy, and he kills this man, NO ONE is safe. When a system of justice works only for some, it works for no one. That isn’t justice. When I hear that a man, a brother, a father, a son, is shot in the back while his kids watch, I immediately think, this could be my brother. Or my Dad. But it also can’t be, because they’re white. This just can’t happen. To anyone. This has to stop. And shooting someone as a police officer, or for that matter, removing your gun, should be the LAST thing you do to protect the lives of the public, or your own life.”

Eric “I used to think I was a super-progressive “woke ally.”  I joined a Black book club as a teenager, studied social theory in college, wrote papers on Frantz Fanon and James Baldwin...but then Hurricane Katrina happened and I went to New Orleans as a volunteer to help with rebuilding.  My first morning there I opened the curtains in my hotel room and looked down onto streets filled with residents trying to get limited resources in a devastated city, and I had a full-on panic attack as I realized that I didn’t see a single other white person in this massive crowd.  Why was I afraid?  How could I even have these feelings?  What did this mean?  Immediately I was filled with shame at my visceral reaction, and that shame forced me to confront the fact that I had deeply internalized racism that I’d never acknowledged, and privilege to which I’d been completely blind — even as an outspoken human rights advocate…This launched me into self-examination about privilege, which in turn led to what will inevitably be a lifelong practice of disentangling myself from my own internalized racism.”

Glenn “To be a white person in America means that I am a member of the majority race that founded this nation and also brought slavery onto this soil…Growing up in America can mean either living with blinders on or learning how race effects every aspect of life here. I try to continually understand this in my relations with all people. And while I strongly support the central ideals of Black Lives Matter, I deeply understand that it is not only Black people who are discriminated against. Anyone who is not part of the dominant power structure does not benefit from it, and is often abused by it, in many ways. Whether you are disabled, Indigenous, LGBTQ, Latinx, Muslim, Black, or poor, there are so many obstacles and hazards awaiting you in America including the dominant power structure that doesn't value your life as much as it values white Americans who follow the line. But Black Americans hold a unique position because of slavery, the legacy of slavery, and the violent efforts of white supremacists to maintain their slight edge over those whom they have the power to kill without repercussions.”

Alice “I grew up in a predominantly white community in the northwest, with hippie-ish parents. We were progressive, politically and yet, as I grew up my understanding of racism, framed from the white-washed history I was taught in school, seemed at that time like it was some mistake, resolved in the past. When I was initially confronted with the idea of privilege in a college sociology class, I got a sinking feeling in my stomach; I was instantly defensive. I grew up poor, with alcoholic parents — I thought how could that be a privilege? A white girl two seats away voiced a similar sentiment. In response, a black man in the back of the room spoke to all the white people in the room and explained, emotionally, that it doesn't matter what your personal circumstances are, what matters is what the world thinks of you when it sees you and how it treats you because of that. That one interaction pushed me to try to understand my privilege and to work to confront my own biases. Something that I think is a lifelong journey - not something that can be checked off a list.”

Hindy “I grew up in the 50’s in Toronto Canada. There were no black people in my high school. All I knew about black people was what I had seen on American television. I got married in 1966 and moved to be with my husband in NYC. The first summer he took me to a swimming pool. I walked into the pool and was surprised that I was the only white person in the pool. I told my husband and friends that I must have gone to the wrong pool. “What are you talking about” they said. Well everyone in the pool is black and we are in America which I know is segregated in certain places, so I guess there must be 2 pools. How uneducated and naïve was I? I now live in South Florida in a mixed neighborhood but I was still naïve and since the televised murder of George Floyd, the protests and riots I had to look deep down and ask myself what do I really know about growing up, raising a family, getting a job, being fearful of police and all the prejudices still going on for black people.”

Chip “I’m 1/4 Italian Immigrant, 1/4 Swiss Immigrant, 1/4 Seminole Indian and 1/4 German / Anglo Saxon, but basically I’m a white man. I also live with being Type 1 Bipolar Manic Depressive and am a recovered Alcoholic and I have 28 years of continuous sobriety. My first experience with racism was when my family moved to Panama City Florida in 1978, I remember hearing horrible stories of brutal violence against Asian children committed by white children in the public school system. It left a horrible impression of me on the social culture in the school system. I was touring with Long John Hunter and the Bad News Blues Band in 2000. Long John would tell us stories from his past history as a blues musician that were filled with his experiences as a black artist in America and Mexico. He endured much racism over the course of his career but he didn’t let it make his heart hard or bitter, Long John had great love for his fans of all colors and creeds. I’ve played in countless bands over the years as a professional drummer and have unfortunately seen many forms of racism.”

Emma “The only way out of a system built on white supremacy is for white people to approach it and dismantle it. We lack the tools to hang in there for difficult conversations and examination of bias. We do not do well with discomfort. We want Black and Latinx activism that says palatable things about white communities. White people have little practice at being the odd one out in the room, because we’ve either built or helped prop up a world where we are the authority in every space. We are not good at listening. White people need to accept no white-owned model will fit on to experiences of color. We must be willing to give up the embarrassment of ego when we fall as we learn to walk. We need to learn to sit with that discomfort and to move past listening to people of color into hearing them and doing our part in fixing the systems that disenfranchise them. White people need to stop approaching white supremacy and violence against Black communities with empathy alone; they need to come to it as an issue to solve.”

Sara “My dad is a self proclaimed “white-mutt”of European decent. My mom is Mexican. My appearance takes after my dad, but my culture and upbringing are definitely that of my mom. This has always caused an internal struggle. I have always been too white for Mexicans and too Mexican for white people. However, it has also allowed me the best of both worlds. Most recently, I was able to enjoy my white privilege, when I had my son. I had a fantastic experience! Everyone was nice, helpful and super accommodating, even in the midst of Covid. I was checked on frequently. Any questions I had were answered right away and were never questioned, even if it was about pain medication. This experience however, was not the same for one of my black mama friends. For her, there were LONG periods of time between check ins, even when she pushed her call button when something didn’t feel right. When someone did come in, they would barely ask her anything, they just checked her vitals, looking at her monitor. When she asked questions, they answered with “let me check with the doctor...” even for simple questions concerning restroom use.”

Albrecht “Once, I experienced a traumatic encounter with a police officer; I am sure that it could have ended in me being killed if I had not been white. I had worked until 11 p.m.; when I wanted to go home, my bicycle tire was flat. I took out my hand-held pump, working on the bike. The next moment, I saw a police car coming to a screeching stop in the alley next to our office building. The tall white police officer jumped out and basically threw himself upon me, yelling to drop it, whatever I might have in my hand. He thought that I was trying to steal a bike. I fell backwards, I was shocked, trembled, and terrorized. Of course, the young officer quickly backed up when he realized his mistake, and he actually apologized. If I had been black, I am sure, I would have been thrown down, handcuffed, if not been shot to death. Indeed, George Floyd’s murder deeply resonates with me, and all the other murders of Black Americans committed by police officers across the country. We need police, of course, but not officers who quickly resort to firearms and kill indiscriminately.”

Rei “I feel like it’s time for a revolution…for everyone to stand up individually and be their best self and act with kindness in this world because that is what is lacking. If everyone could just try to be a better human being and wake up in the morning and try to do their best, then I think a revolution would happen in this world. We would see all of the pain slowly go away. Things would start to look a little brighter and a little happier. I believe that it all starts with ourselves. Nothing can change unless we work on ourselves.”

Bette “My parents were Republicans, upper middle class.There were maids and servants in our home. It was because of my mother's mental illness that we had this one woman, Edith, who was my Comma Mama. With my mother being hospitalized for six months at a time, Edith did not wait on us. Edith taught us how to clean toilets, cook, and all the loving things a mother does. Edith’s love for us made it very easy for us. When my father died, I went back for the funeral. I had a deep, deep longing to see Edith. I researched, found her, and called her. Edith invited us to dinner and she had gotten married. When we went to eat at Edith’s house, she was married to a guy who'd been a porter on the road. She had a new nice house. She fixed all of our favorite foods, chicken and dumplings and dinner rolls like nobody but her could ever make. She was going blind with macular degeneration. Her husband left the room and came back with a picture album. He said that “Here's all the pictures of her children.” And it was pictures of all of us.”

Randy “When I was school-aged, my parents would bring me for the summers to an aunt in Mexico. Traveling across the border has been part of my life from a VERY young age. I would work with my uncle Miguel in Juarez. This time working as a kid was magical. My brother didn’t like going to Mexico. He started staying with a rich white family. This decision would lead to us being very different people. My brother decided Mexicans were dirty people. He went to resort beach towns in Mexico with his rich white friends and started considering Mexicans servants. Years later my mom and I were living in Tucson. I was starting to become more of an activist and be even more aware of the issues on the border. My brother calls me to say he got a job as a Border Patrol! I was livid. I asked him if he forgot that our family, my mom’s brothers, had come up illegally and paved the path for our mom to immigrate. I asked how he would feel when he had to turn back one of our cousins? All was to no avail. He took the job.”

Kathleen “I grew up in a small mostly white Wisconsin town in the 60’s/70’s, the only daughter in a family of 7 children. My first awareness of racial prejudice towards Black people occurred while watching Sammy Davis Jr.’s appearance on the popular sitcom, All In The Family. I remember the main character, Archie Bunker (whom reminded me of a rougher version of my dad), struggle with his ingrained beliefs while trying to be a better human being. Having over a 3-decade social work career, I helped 100’s of people of color, navigate the system while addressing issues of poverty, addiction, domestic violence, child abuse, etc. But, being truly honest, in retrospect, my orientation was that of being “one up” from the person I was serving, that somehow I knew better and could guide them. It took a long time observing myself to understand just how wrong my perspective was even through as a single mother, I raised a Black son. And now, as woman in the “third age” of her life, for the first time, I'm diving deep into exploring my hidden biases, my white-washed education, and ingrained erroneous thinking patterns.”