Perception on the Cost of Race

This article was mailed (yes, cut out of the paper, put in an envelope, and mailed) to me last week, and it is one of the most enlightening pieces to hit newspapers about race. Turns out people don't notice privilege when they are swimming in it.

Read it. It's good, it's thought provoking, and far more forgiving than I would be in my analysis. Print it, clip it, pass it around, become a white ally, and use it as an icebreaker when having that awkward conversation about race with your friend who doesn't quite get why the civil rights movement isn't over, why these battles still have to be fought, and why, even though things are better now, they still have a long way to go.

And, don't forget, it's important to not downplay the significance of how far we have come. The problem is thinking nothing has happened/will happen, and thinking that this is a done and over deal. The full context, the history of the struggle for racial equality, is huge, and without that context the debate can't really be meaningful.

(Of, and after all this, go outside. It's a beautiful Sunday here, and it's hard for me to imagine it being unpleasant wherever you are).