How do I use my White Privilege for good?

I’m not really sure how to start this post. I feel uncomfortable already writing this. I know how uneducated I am on this topic and I know that my anger, my sadness and my hurt is no where near how hurt, sad and angry black people are right now.

Since I learned that white privilege existed, I’ve always known I had it. However, it’s always made me really uncomfortable. I’ve always wanted to bury my head in the sand about it and act like it wasn’t that big a thing. It was a thing that wouldn’t even exist as I grew older. That’s my white privilege all over, not confronting something because it’s so uncomfortable to think about.

I know that this needs to stop. I’m sorry that it’s taken another needless death of a black person at the hands of authority to get so many white people to sit up and take notice. I am sorry that I am one of those people.

I am sorry that “Black Lives Matter” keeps getting amended to “All Lives Matter”, as if we didn’t have it affirmed constantly that white lives matter. As if the world is equal when it clearly isn’t.

I’m sorry on a much more personal level that I’ve always believed that not being racist is enough. I’m sorry that where I grew up racial slurs were the norm and the majority of us didn’t even know what we were saying. I’m sorry for being one of the people who has used language that puts white above black and for being so ignorant to what it actually meant. For being so passive when I’ve witnessed racism.

I might not be racist but by sitting down and shutting up I’ve enabled racist conversations to keep going and that is not right at all.

I refuse to ever do that again.

I am writing this to say that I will not forget George Floyd. His violent, harrowing and needless death has really opened my eyes. There have been too many deaths in this way. Far too many. I stand for George Floyd and for all before him. I stand with black people.

I am making this promise on my public blog to learn more, to do more, to use my white privilege for good.

Let’s all stand together.

I am willing to learn and be a voice, if you’ll have me?