
From redlining to whitewashing there is plenty of evidence that white supremacy is real, and that systemic white supremacy is as American as apple pie. Even with all this evidence many white people are finding it difficult to believe that law enforcement in this country is one of the natural mechanism of this system. They are unwilling to do the hard work of seeking out the truth, relying on pop culture to spoon feed them facts about the world around us. I am ashamed of just how ignorant I have been over the years when it comes to the world around me, and it is something that would have never changed if I hadn’t forced myself to leave the community where I grew up, and experience the world beyond what I knew. It has taken hard work on my part to seek out diverse voices in the books I read, and not rely on what I am being fed via social media, or even mainstream media. It takes work to find the answers you need to see the world for what it is, and I am not convinced that many people I know are up for the hard work. I am to the point where I question everything I was told. Until I am able to relearn and do the research on my own, every idea and concept in my head is suspect. Which makes it really hard for me to see people I care for doubling down on ignorance and a willingness to blatantly lie and traffic in conspiracy theories. I mean, why wouldn’t you want to know more? I’m guessing cause it is painful and scary for them. It is difficult to realize everything you have been told for your life is so whitewashed, and that you really aren’t as exceptional as you believe, and you are just propped up by a system that claims to be equitable, but really only serves you if you are white and privileged. I refuse to stay in the dark, and I am determined to know more. I’ll keep scratching and working to understand what is really going on behind the scenes of this circus we call America.
P.S. I can’t recommend Bunk enough when it comes to understanding just how pervasive this type of racist storytelling and whitewashing in American culture–it really is who we are as a nation.