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If you’re a white person, and you’re talking to people of color about a prominent person of their same race or ethnic origin, you can’t ever be too respectful… Not “MLK” but “Dr. King”
Have you seen the video of these two Scottish guys who try to get a voice-activated lift (elevator) to understand what they’re saying? What if they were black? … So These Two Scottish Guys get onto a Lift…
The Janitor at Work
I recently started a new job, sitting at the front desk at a research organization. And after the novelty wore off, and my sheer relief at having a job, I noticed something. I do a lot of the same stuff, over and over. Then, one day, I saw the janitor waiting for the elevator, and I thought of something: he does the same stuff, over and over, every day.
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Of Course There are Lots of Black People in Saginaw, Michigan
I asked a black coworker a stupid question the other day. When he told me he’s from Saginaw, Michigan, I asked him if there are many black people there…
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When the Tectonic Plates of my Soul Shifted
Years ago, the tectonic plates of my soul shifted. It was October, 2006, and I was at my in-laws’ 50th wedding anniversary celebration. By the time I got to the hall where the celebration was being held, I knew three things. One, I was dressed wrong…
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White Women Reacting to my “Hands off the Hair” post
I read my post “Hands off the Hair” at the writers group that I belong to. At the end of the afternoon, when all of the writers there had read their pieces, some of them came up to me and told stories about hair…
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“Hands off the Hair”
The other day, I saw an African-American woman wearing a T-shirt that read “Hands off the Hair.” I paused, and smiled, and said to her, “I love your T-shirt.” She grinned and said, “Thank you.” I said it in a way that made it clear that I know why T-shirts like that exist…
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Guess What? My Husband is Black!
Most of my co-workers didn’t know that my husband was black. Then some of them found out, and I wonder if they started re-thinking some of the things I said…
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Guess What? My Husband can Speak for Himself
At the Cottage Cafe in Cle Elum, when the waitress came to pick up our dishes, she picked up mine and then asked me, “Is he done with his?” Why didn’t she ask Kyle directly?
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Oh my God, Someone Who isn’t White!
I hadn’t realized how white Bend was until an African-American waitress smiled at me. I drove back from Bend over Friday and Saturday, and on Saturday morning I stopped at the Black Bear Diner in Tacoma…
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What Makes Me An Approachable White Person?
as I was standing there, an African-American man walked up. Now, I’d been trying to figure out what kind of vibe I gave off, that makes me seem approachable. I figured it must be that my face stays open and relaxed, I don’t shrink in on myself, I stand where I am, I look open and… welcoming?
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The Small Town Where I’m Living Now
Sometimes I wonder what I would’ve thought of Bend if I’d moved here without having much experience with people of color. I probably would’ve thought it was a fine place to live, or, rather, that the problems about the place were just that it was so small…
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