Below is the comment in its entirety that I didn’t post to my June 6th blog entry: https://trynottocryonmyrainbow.com/2020/06/08/the-way-we-look/

I’m also not posting the author’s name or link to his blog. I don’t think his blog is complementary to mine, in fact, I believe it is quite the opposite. His comment, however, illustrates to me the disconnect between people who understand the Black Lives Matter movement, and people who don’t. It shows what a huge disconnect there is between white experiences and black experiences and it shows just exactly how adamant people are in their efforts to NOT focus on the issue at hand, and ONLY the issue at hand, which to me is: black people in this country have never been given equal rights and have lived in fear, have lived with less, fewer rights and opportunities, all because of the color of their skin. We as white people have perpetrated this inequality by not only making decisions to actively subjugate black lives, but also in not making decisions that would actively correct the situation. Each and every time we have the opportunity to make decisions to better the lives of black people, we must. Those of us who sit idly by saying “we are not racist” are culpable and responsible. The issue at hand, the one I am speaking about and that our country is rioting on behalf of is, and is only, BLACK LIVES MATTER.

The pending comment, written by a white male living in a northern US state, and which will be summarily deleted once I complete this post, is as follows (copied exactly as submitted, typos and all):

I am not racist
I will not treat people differently because of their skin color
I will not kneel (submit) for anyone or any cause
I will not be shame for anything I have not done

I have never been racist. I have always been anti racist – just like I have been anti any bias based on inherited traits that people cannot control, like skin color.

Every person is unique and individual – I feel treating every single person as unique, and focusing on people individually is most fair way to approach justice, love and fairness. I feel when we focus on groups, categories and skin colors, we constrain the identity of every member of the group, and leave unappreciated all the unique and individual strengths and gifts. It also works in reverse, and assumes good intentions and virtues than some people do not posses.

I don’t associate with people who judge and mistreat other based on race. I will not be shamed, NOR TAKE A KNEE for what any other human being has done, no matter what it is. That is crazy – we don’t make people pay for other people’s crimes – this is a concept the world has learned, right? Did we forget that? What is this nonsense?

So, I won’t own or ascribe to the “white privilege,” or “male privilege” notions. The “privilege” claims are a political and power game to try to guilt, and force people into paying and relinquishing power. You know it is bullshit, because there are probably millions of types of privilege, not just these two – there are probably as many kinds of privilege as their are people; so why do we only recognize two types of privilege? politics!

Which brings us back to why we aught to judge people and their situations individually. If we do not, nobody will be served fairly, because we all will be judged based on what other people have done and who other people where. If skin color is a horrible measure by which to prejudge, which it is, then any skin color including white, is a horrible measure by which to judge, and insufficient to justify accusations of privilege. It’s idiotic – if you have ever been a dirt poor white kid with an abusive crack head mother, and grew up in a one bedroom apartment – molested by her black drug dealing boyfriend, then you definitely know how inadequate skin color is, as a determinant for who is responsible for racial injustice.

If one argues that a white person like me is responsible for racism (paying or it or fixing it), or a part of institutional racism JUST BECAUSE THEIR WHITE SKIN COLOR, how is that any less shallow, stupid and racist, than any association a racist would make about someone who is black?

Racism is lazy and ignorant – appreciating that everyone is an individual, is the most compassionate and fair way to treat people.

I feel very bad for people who live in poverty, have bad living conditions, or who are victims. I loath the white people, black people or any people who lack compassion and harm others, including any police officers who do evil.

I am not racist
I will not treat people differently because of their skin color
I will not kneel (submit) for anyone or any cause
I will not be shame for anything I have not done

—-

So there it is. This is why people are protesting, nightly, and vociferously in Portland and many, many, many other places. Our system doesn’t work and is horribly flawed and produces people like the man who made the comment above.

I admit it took me some time to truly absorb the fact that this crucial situation, from whatever moment in time that a person REALLY GETS IT, is literally ONLY about the Black Lives Matter movement. Two years ago on a a beautiful summer night we sat on our lovely deck outside our spacious house in a pretty Portland neighborhood eating a gorgeous dinner prepared by my son and his girlfriend, who is of Indian descent (and makes some absolutely amazing Indian food), and my son had to literally repeat over and over again how the term all lives matter is offensive in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. We are simply not talking about all lives. I was ignorant about the movement and he educated me. Right now we are only talking about black lives because black lives are in danger, as much now as ever, and the only way we can truly change that, is by admitting we must be part of the solution every single day of our lives and in every way we can going forward. We know there are many individual people (most people) and groups of people (most groups) who have felt the pain of bias, and prejudice, and injustice…. yes, even white men, but we are not talking about those people right now. We are talking about a group of people, specifically I’m talking about the United States right now, who have never been treated fairly. Who fear for their lives purely because of the color of their skin and it is time that we all made the effort to change that, and denial is the place for many people to start.