The Good
I got a cat! I didn’t intend to specifically adopt a black cat. But he fit the all the criteria I was looking for, and I couldn’t be happier or luckier with such a perfect little dude (so far lol). Someone jokingly said “black cats matter” and as silly and somewhat insensitive as it sounds, in the animal adoption world, that’s actually true. The success rates are much lower because of their stigma. Pictures to be provided in a later post, I gotta keep seeing your kids and pets, you gonna see mine. Lol?
The Bad
I was recently challenged by a close black friend that I wasn’t being vocal enough about current issues, or that I wasn’t “mad enough.” I was offended by that, as I’ve never been silent, and feel I do use my limited social platform to make clear my stance. I also had a discussion with a close white friend, who felt overwhelmed and said he was “checking out of it all.” This also offended me because I feel like turning the blind eye is part of the exact problem. All this being said, despite some testy conversations across entire diverse social circles, it’s part of the healthy debate. If it’s getting to us all, that’s better than it not. All THAT being said, those two friends and I will be doing some “discount shopping” at Target soon, together. Let me know if you need anything. Lol ?????? ?
The Ugly
I saw another post that said something like “White supremacy won’t end until white people recognize it as a white issue that they need to resolve rather than a black issue that they need to empathize with.” Spot on. Of course we don’t expect the staunch and proud self identified racists to suddenly switch teams. I’d rather they stay on that one, every good game needs an opposition. Fuck’em. But a lot of white people genuinely find it difficult to see how “others have it so bad” when they too deal with a lot of bullshit in this world, especially in certain areas. Poverty, drugs, jobs, crime, harassment, horrible encounters with police, etc. The analogy I would like to make is that systemic racism is like climate change. Bad weather happens everywhere, all the time. We all have been rained on. Just because we ALL see the storms come and go, we can’t forget there’s a bigger system in place, climate. Just like climate change, racism also began a long long time ago. And it is something steady and consistent, often forgot about by some, especially once we get relief from a nice sunny day. Day to day can change, but for a lot people, the problem still doesn’t go away. ☔️
