I was in high school the first time a white friend asked me “Why is everything about race with you?”And I said “Um, because everything is about race?”
Decades later, it’s still true. Everything IS about race. And it’s especially true this election year, when race is at the core of every issue., health care, jobs, climate change, the media - even the Coronavirus.
Race is at the center of it all - and for a lot of folks, that’s just too uncomfortable to accept and really talk about.
But it’s what I’m talking about. I’m Rebecca Carroll and this is Come Through: 15 essential conversations about race in a pivotal year for America.
Dr. Camara Jones: So all last week I was feeling like I lived on a seashore. I felt the earthquake. I knew the tsunami was coming, and yet I was standing there watching the children collecting shells and fish off the beach.
Walter Mosley: I live in a country where freedom of speech and the right to pursue happiness are the highest goals of the country. And you know I'm not going to get mad at somebody and say, “Well you got a Confederate flag.” I'm glad that I get to see your Confederate flag. I'm glad to hear you say what you're saying because I know who you are and what you are.
Kay Oyegun: Black women are always my protagonist. I always say to people, and I've done this in drafts before, I say, assume everyone's black unless I say otherwise.
Pamela Newkirk: You know, we have a black press and we don't call mainstream news organizations, the white press.
RC: But how is that not racist?
PN: Okay. You want to use the word racism? Go for it.
RC: But you don't think so?
PN: Because when you say racism, people stop listening because they don't think it applies to them.
Bassey Ikpi: Now, I know that I'm a person who exists on or offline and I'm able to be comfortable with myself offline enough to leave when it becomes too much, as opposed to staying in the storm because I don't want anyone to forget that I wasn't there. Now I've got to write this down for my therapist. Thanks, Rebecca.
Robin DiAngelo: I’m just gonna say this, I don’t think most white people really care about racial inequality. We need to ask ourselves what happened to us that we are so numbed to it.
RC: And what level of empathy am I expected to employ for the moral trauma of white people?
RD: You know, say, no, not, that's not my struggle.
RC: This particular moment in history? How do you describe it in a spiritual way?
Bishop T.D. Jakes: It’s depressing. Because I am a spiritual person, I have not given up hope that, as Dr. King said, "Truth smashed down to the ground will rise again undaunted." This is a smashing moment, so the rising moment has to be coming soon.
So Come Through. Hit subscribe because you don’t wanna miss this. First two episodes drop Tuesday, April 7th
