2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: The one thing that will stop Bernie Sanders.....his supporters [View all]Raine1967
(11,589 posts)they clarify a lot of feelings I have about certain issues that I don't know how to fully express.
your discussions about Social and Economic justice is one example. IT's not easy as a white woman to realize certain things.
A few years ago, (over a decade now that I think about it) I was dating a black man. At the time I needed to find a new place to live. I was looking to rent a house he came with me to check it out for structural issues, etc.
The prospective land lord kept asking me if I would be moving in alone; (yes) did I have kids? (no) Was I thinking about kids
. It seemed like friendly banter, a conversational thing and I am pretty chatty myself
at a certain point, my Boyfriend said he had 'checked out the house and would meet me in the car'. I was really kinda confused as to why he was leaving me alone.
When I got back to the car, he told me what he had seen and what he saw and felt was something I didn't. That landlord was really afraid I would be moving in with a black man.
The other day, Martin O'MAlley gave a speech to the Urban League and he said something that reminded me of that incident so many years ago:
We cannot understand what we do not see.
We cannot improve what we do not measure.
But once we measure, once we see, and once we understand, we can certainly improve.
My relationship with that man (still one of my dearest friends) so many years ago opened my eyes to things so many of my white friends just don't get.
My boyfriend at the time made more money than me, he owned his own house with generous property in upstate NY And he was still treated like crap from a white homeowner offering me the privilege to live in his house for a fee. I was floored. I new what rascism was kinda, but this was a perfect example of the unseen stuff a lot of white people don't ever see.
I didn't rent that house, I said f*ck it and bought one of my own with another friend of mine. We bought a duplex. He lived upstairs with his partner and I was a happy unmarried woman owning my own home.
I guess what I am saying is that I am seeing more and I appreciate it!