Uncomfortable Conversations

I have a lot to tell you guys.

Life has been busy! Between getting married in Feb (love you babe!), injuring my knee, and rehabbing, I’ve had a lot on my plate.

Not too much to discuss the elements of racism in the land though.

I’ve come to a point where I pick and choose my conversations about race. So many people don’t know what racism is, how it’s evolved, and how it works present day. Yet, they have the audacity to speak on the subject without the willingness to learn. Learning is the key. Even myself. I can learn from someone else having a different position, and I welcome that experience. It makes me check my own biases. What I won’t tolerate is backhanded acceptance of racial prejudice.

And I’m definitely not about to argue with folks.

I write about racism in an effort to educate people. Not to attack any certain group. Not to produce nonsensical rants. Not because of angry black man syndrome (I couldn’t roll my eyes harder at this notion). Passion for a cause, especially a sensitive subject like racism, can be confused with anger. In fact, it’s often a defense mechanism for those who are projecting their own experiences on me. Because I’m willing to have the conversation, people take that as an invitation to vent about “the other side”, attack me on a personal level, or misinterpret what I’ve said followed by a lengthy explanation of what I’m doing wrong. They do everything to invalidate experience, wisdom and knowledge in an effort to prop up their own.

That’s not the way any of this works.

Uncomfortable conversations mean we as an individuals have to take off the rose colored glasses and see life through someone else’s eyes. We have to check our own biases. It’s not about his or her truth. It’s about the truth, and the truth is Jesus Christ. Am I loving like He told me?

I’m not angry because I speak fervently. I’m not angry because I’m direct. I’m not angry because I’m having a conversation that makes you squirm. I’m passionate for change, respect, and true love to be spread abroad.

I’ll always be that.