LaVar Hosting Jeopardy July 26-30 Stan Account 👁

Start with the obvious: it is easier to say "there's no us and them" when you have always been "us" and you've never experienced "them."

Most black people in America have experienced "them." And if we haven't, it's bc we spend every day of our lives proving we belong to "us."

In fact, I bet when this guy saved these kids, consciously or not, part of his brain thought, "oh yeah, I'm really proving that I'm an Us"

obviously not in those words, but we can't help but think, all the time, about how we've proving our humanity through extraordinary acts.

in any case, because we live as "them" and in the vise of being "them" but not wanting to be "them" but not wanting to not be "them"...

nice platitudes about how "there's no us vs them" deny one of the core aspects of our experience. So! How can well-meaning white ppl...

shift their language to express the hope of unity-of-the-human-race, while acknowledging that few if any black people EXPERIENCE that unity?

I would suggest explicit recognition of racial dynamics. Not "there's no division," but "despite this division, he did this good thing."