As the table turns

I could rant and rave for hours, days, weeks, about gender stereotyping in the media, gender biasing on our campus, gender discrimination in the church, and pretty much anything involving women's issues, but when it comes to race, I grow silent. Let me try to use this blog as an introduction to my thoughts on approaching race.

I stand in silence, in ignorance. I know how it feels to be a woman, at times like I will never be able to truly become my hopes, but I have no idea what it feels like to be an African American woman. I say this with a sincere desire to yearn to listen. Just as I crave my story as a woman to be heard, I truly need to hear the stories of people of different races.

As I write this, I even become nervous about the language I use. Approaching race is so sensitive to me, because as I can emphasize endlessly that I genuinely want to understand, I will never fully get it, because I am white, I have privilege. It kills me, and I hate it. I hate that although I did not choose to be white, just by the color of my skin, I have more privilege than I even realize.

When I watch TV or a movie, I grow defensive easily by offenses made at gender, but I have to apologetically admit that I do not do this nearly as much when race stereotyping occurs. When I make this statement, I am not referring to blatant racist jokes, but rather actions made by the "black token character," or occupations that the African American character plays, etc. If this was turned and I was watching a movie where all then women were in domestic roles-- I would notice.

I recognize that I have a lot to learn, and that is not an understatement. I am hoping to be challenged, for I believe it is in the uncomfortable that we truly grow.