Post Alpaca Lips Posts

Photo by   Ryoji Iwata   on  Unsplash . First published on Medium . . The meanderings of White denial and the White fragility of responsibility… . Yes, I agree with your between the lines premise. Taking responsibility is a tough thing. I know why you don’t want to take responsibility for White privilege, and see no systemic racism. It makes sense that way. All of us have a weakness. You may have many more, it seems. However, I am hopeful you will come around, before taking this sin of omission to the grave. . If you were soberly driving a car that hit and injured, or killed someone, but you did not “see” anything, and the only sound was a light thump like you hit a bird, you also would be innocent, right? You had no idea it was a person, and you never turned around to see what you hit because… Who would have? No one would expect us to take responsibility for it, either. We are like two peas in a pod… of white privilege denial bullshit. . I am not rich! Therefore White pr...

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Navigator on  Unsplash I wrote about this memory, first as a condensed, tweet thread last Juneteenth . I worked part time for a black business owner, as I attended Brown Institute for radio in Minneapolis from 1983–84. Initially, I was one of only two workers. Both of us were white. And why was that? Race in America is complicated. Later it was myself and two black workers, one of them worked directly with Bill on reupholstering. Then one of the black employees was working with me after the upholsterer left. The remaining worker had been in the Navy. We became quick friends, being the same age; he even invited me to come with him to a party Prince was putting on. My last coworker was a 4th generation Latino Minnesotan; a great guy, too. Finally, after 10 months it was just the boss and me. Then one day… “Bill” stood in front of me… . He had arrived here via the The Great Migration from 1950s Alabama. He ran his own, small upholstery shop for 30 years by 1...

Oak Tree In Front Of Our Home Essay first published on Medium . Truth is more than what people say it is. Evidence must be formed in certain ways to verify it; otherwise we would not be able to truly communicate with each other. It is very basic stuff; agreeing on what a dollar buys is a truth . In the 21st century we must agree that the virtual digits posted on our online bank accounts are exact representations of truth. On the other hand, it would be nearly impossible to convince any of the American founders that digital money is a truth. . Updating our knowledge of truth is therefore necessary to stabilize our democracy. Some truths continue to hold up; others are on a less stable footing. Unstable truths, with any history at all, are the most contentious. The truths about abortion, gay marriage, and LGBT rights in general, likely top the current social debate. The form of economic theory we utilize is another big truth we wrestle over. Systemic racism, structural racism, and raci...