I have always kept my posts about family, fun, and food.
I strongly feel it would be wrong of me to not acknowledge what has been going on in my home state, and how the wrongful death of George Floyd ignited a flame across the country- and world- this past week.
I am a white girl. It is fair to say I know nothing about what it is like to be black. There are a million differences, and I'm oblivious to pretty much all of them.
When I was a clinical dietitian, I had a particular patient see me for weight loss counseling. She was black, and a mother- her son was the same age as my second son, and we would compare notes and talk about life with our rambunctious toddlers. One particular session, she told me that her son had been fidgeting at the kitchen table and fell over and got a lump on his head. He was fine, but she rescheduled his upcoming well child visit because she was fearful the nurse and/or pediatrician would suspect her of child abuse.
Because she was black.
Have I ever in my life been fearful to take any of my kids into urgent care for the inevitable bumps/bruises/scrapes they get? Nope.
That- right there- is white privilege. Not having to worry about getting judged. Not having to worry about getting pulled over. Not having to worry about did I get accepted into the college of my choice to "fill a quota" of some sort. Not having to worry about if I got the job because I tick off the diversity check box.
Have I treated all my non-white patients with respect and the same level of care as my white patients? To the best of my knowledge, yes. But have I really sought to understand what black people have been living with for, well, forever?
This morning I took my oldest son grocery shopping with me and we packed up bags of non-perishables to bring to a north Minneapolis pop-up food shelf. With transit shut down and so many stores either damaged or boarded up, families have been left without any way to get supplies. Hundreds of people were already there with donations. There is good happening in the city.
I don't want my kids to think that by doing one good deed we have done our part and can give ourselves a pat on the back and go back to watching Netflix in our suburban home. I need to do better as an individual. We need to do better as a family.
I appreciate all the social media posts I've seen about realistically what we as white Minnesotans, and as Americans, can do. From websites to books to documentaries- there has been a lot of sharing of what resources can be used to educate ourselves and our kids about white privilege and racism.
A few bags of groceries for a city in hurt is minuscule. It's going to be our starting place- not our finish line.