IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 7 ENGLISH | Page 72

sixties going to high school in a mixed
race school district where whites were
not the majority of students. During the
tensions of that time, it was not uncommon for riots to break-out among the
high school youth during school hours.
In one of the riots my dad got hit over
the head with a chair by a young classmate who was Black. I feel sorry for my
dad in that he has taken the experiences
of his life and used them to categorize
people according to race and assign negative characteristics. What I see is a way
of making meaning out of a world that
often seems unjust and that wants to
assign reason and logic to human behaviors that often are not. He is one of the
people who "disagrees" with me about
my position on racial justice and anti
racism. He often will repeat the phrase,
"Never argue about poltics or religion"
when he wants to shut down any conversation about racism or race. I don't fault
him for his experience but I do have the
hope that in the future he will see past he
easy prejudices and comforting structures offered to white people who sign
on to racist beliefs. Especially a white
man from the North in a mixed-class,
working class and middle class family.

He gets the be nefits of being white and
also gets to feel like there is a reason for
the state of anti Blackness present in
America today. He gets to escape any
critical thinking or any real vulnerable
emotional openness around what it
means to be white and to learn about the
Black experience by clinging to those
old yet solidifying beliefs and tropes.
Now I know that often in Pittsburgh the
issue of race often gets oversimplified to
become a Black and White issue, due to
only more recently becoming slightly
more welcoming and attractive to new
residents including visitors, immigrants
and People of Color,. That's another element of what I get to learn about within
the WHAT'S UP framework. I often fear
that I overstep my role as a white person
who values multidimensional, multiracial community space and relationships,
and who wants to work for antiracism.
However I must take the chance of saying something that might feel uncomfortable or inappropriate in order to take
the risk to recover my wholeness as a
human capable of loving myself and
others, and to set my intentions to justice-bound healing of selves, families,
and communities.

The words below are from a What’s Up Pittsburgh blog post that shared significant
quotations to white people’s role in racial justice: White People. White People. Be Encouraged to Take Action for Racial Justice. The trouble is that once you see it, you
can’t unsee it. And once you’ve seen it, keeping quiet, saying nothing becomes as political an act as speaking out. There’s no innocence. Either way, you’re accountable. —
Arundhati Roy

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