Dear White People

Dear White People,

What the hell is going on with you? What have you done to this world? I am asking this as a fellow white person, so it is okay for you to listen to me. But seriously, this is not okay. Why do you continue to allow institutional and individual racism to corrode this country? You are in power! You are in charge! You get to set the tone and make up the rules! How could you allow this to happen?!

Alton Sterling

Philando Castile

Say their names, white people. Say those names, and so many other names that have been taken from this world too soon because of fear. Fear of what? Of black people? Of a new status quo? Of a world where you share power rather than wield it unjustly? I’m sick of it. I’m sick to my stomach of it. And can I just say that, selfishly, you are making my job harder. My job is to write funny things about music and parenting. I cannot do that when I wake up in the morning and I see videos of people being violently murdered all over my newsfeed. How the hell can I write something funny? This is not a joke.

My other job is to raise my kids, to teach them that all lives matter, but how can I do that when the black ones clearly don’t? Boy, I would love to be able to use the hashtag #alllivesmatter, but the truth is, all lives are not being equally threatened. To use that hashtag is the very essence of white privilege. All of you people complaining about participation trophies and then whining about #blacklivesmatter because #alllivesmatter need to seriously examine your souls. #AllLivesMatter is the hashtag equivalent of a participation trophy. “Waaah, waaaah, I wanna be in the hashtag! How come MY life isn’t in the hashtag?!” Well if your biggest problem today is that you are not in the hashtag, then go about your life knowing that you are truly blessed.

Okay, how about this one? #BlackLivesEqualWhiteLives Is that better? It says “white” right in there for you. Do you like that? Or are you still mad because you are not first? Well guess what, you are first at everything else! Deal with it. Or maybe you really don’t think black lives are equal to white lives. Is that what you think? Is that why, as soon as you see the news of another shooting, you can’t wait to dig up the dirt on the murder victim? Is it okay to murder someone if they were a “bad guy?” Superman doesn’t think so. Batman doesn’t think so. The Constitution of the United States doesn’t think so. So no, it is not okay to go around murdering people with criminal records. If your sentence “I don’t think he deserved to be shot,” ends with the word “but,” then you are a huge part of the problem. Shut the hell up and sit the hell down.

I’m sorry to be ranting like this, but I am angry. Aren’t you angry? No, you’re not. Why aren’t you angry? I can tell you aren’t angry, because you are not out rioting in the streets, demanding justice. Black people are out in the streets demanding justice, but most white people are at home being sad on the internet. Or being a smug douchebag on the internet. Either way. But we are not out marching and protesting and weeping and shouting. In fact, we are complaining about the black people that are out there doing it. It makes us uncomfortable. It makes us afraid. Why can’t they just talk about these problems in a civilized way?

Are you kidding me? Black people are not more uncivilized than white people, they just get angry about different things. Black people get angry about being systematically abused and murdered. White people get angry about sports. When do white people riot? When their team loses. Or when their team wins. Or when there is only one XBox left at Walmart the day after Thanksgiving. These are the things that white people care about. And I am asking you, I am begging you, please, white people, care about this. Get angry about this.

Get angry that 12-13% of the US population is black, but 37% of the US prison population is also black, almost three times what it should proportionally be.

Get angry that 24% of the people killed by police so far in 2016 were black, twice what it should proportionally be.

Get angry that 38% of black children live in poverty, compared to 12% of white children.

Get angry at yourself, for the fear you allow to grow and fester inside of you, for the second looks you give someone based on skin color alone, for your lack of action in the direction of justice.

#BlackLivesEqualWhiteLives

#BlackLivesEqualWhiteLivesEqualHispanicLivesEqualMuslimLivesEqualAllLives

Yes, all lives should be equal. No one deserves to die. But for now, we need to focus on the immediate problem at hand. Black lives. We can say that all lives matter and are equal, but the fact of the matter is that black lives are not being treated that way. And we should be pretty damn angry about it. I’m angry about it. And do you know who I am angry at white people? You. And me.

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