What Happens When a White Person Talks About Race?
Two weeks ago, I shared an announcement on Facebook about a speaking engagement I am co-headlining which focuses on creating more opportunities for women of color. Fifteen minutes later, I received a message that read: “Good for you. As a white person, I can tell you that I’ve gotten nothing but headache every time I’ve tried to talk to black people about race. You must have the juice.”
Frankly, I wasn’t surprised by his response. After all, I’ve observed this before; white people being dismissed or criticized for talking about race. But like most things in this world, there are details that paint a more complete picture. As such, I decided to ask him some follow-up questions.
- When you say ‘headache’, what did that look like?
- When you say ‘every time’, how many times have you found yourself talking to ‘black people’ about race and what has been the context of the discussions?
- When you are not doing the talk, what are you doing to help the cause?
- Are you presuming that ‘black people’ are the only people that will be in the audience?
- What do you mean by ‘juice’?
As my questions turned into discussions and several pounds of frustration on his end, a few things became painfully clear to me. First and foremost…
