Get Mad At It

By Z

Recently, I ran into an old ally and she shared her first impressions of meeting me 15 years ago.

She said I was angry and she thought, “OHHHH – that woman is so angry about racism!”  I could not tell if this was a good or bad thing in her mind.  Of course, in my mind I was not angry – maybe passionate about racial justice happening in my lifetime but surely I was not an angry white woman!

I mused about this later and I’m curious.

If every white person was as angry as me about racism, would we be in a different place now? 

It is easy to be complacent about norms and not challenge them.  Complacency does not move the arc of history towards justice.  Understanding the way racism works and how it affects people who are subjected to its ugliness should make every white person as angry as me.

I’ve seen the causes come and go over these past 15 years and there’s been some movement in understanding the effects of Racism on our society.  That makes me hopeful.  Of course, now the undoing is happening but doesn’t that help to bring it all into focus?  The pendulum swings both ways.  Maybe there will be a time when my nonwhite grandchildren will have the same benefits of affirmative action that the white population enjoys..

Like my dad use to say when I was doing a task without much gusto, “get mad at it.”   We all have a stake in what happens with regards to Racism so let’s all “GET MAD AT IT”.

Like my dad use to say when I was doing a task without much gusto, “get mad at it.”   We all have a stake in what happens with regards to Racism so let’s all “GET MAD AT IT”.