A Letter about #AllLivesMatter

My dear white friends and family whom I love deeply,

I would like you to suspend your judgement and defenses for just a few minutes and be open to what I have to say here. Please. I know where you are coming from, I have been there, I am still there some days. We grew up with this thing called color-blindness. It’s where we were taught not to notice differences in each other, but to notice we are all the same, therefore all equal. This is deeply engrained within us. We don’t even have to think about it because it’s our first response whenever anyone points out differences in skin color. I know what you feel when you see the hashtag #blacklivesmatter. You’re defenses come up and immediately you think: that is false, we are all the same, therefore: #alllivesmatter. You are willing to get into arguments along this vein of all lives matter because that’s what we have been taught. That is what we preach, what we teach to our kids, what our parents and school teachers have taught to us. Slavery was abolished, the civil rights movement happened, we are good now because we made everyone the same.

 BUT that is not actually what we live out…we can’t help but notice the differences. We notice them and since we have been taught that all people are the same, we shroud the differences in secrecy because the socially acceptable thing is that we are all the same. We make comments and jokes and have suspicions amongst ourselves. We never seek out to know the differences, we make assumptions and create this culture of fear (whether intentional or not). None of this is to judge you, I thought this way too. I know that if what I am saying is true, you feel like the enemy here, because you are white. Please realize this: we don’t have to be the enemy, we can be an ally. We can acknowledge what’s going on and be an ally. We only become an enemy if we choose to ignore what’s happening. 

But we can’t ignore what’s happening anymore, especially if we are followers of Christ. Our black brothers and sisters in Christ are hurting. They are afraid for their lives, for their sons lives, for their brother’s lives, their husband’s lives. The Bible says to “Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) So let’s listen to what our brothers and sisters are saying, let’s carry this burden with them! I know that it sucks to acknowledge this, and to know that our race has been responsible for a considerable amount of  oppression, but let’s break this cycle. Let it end with our generation. Please. 

I know that some of you will still disagree with me, but I hope that you know that I love you and I don’t want to disrespect you. I just want to make you think. 

And to my black friends and neighbors, I hope I didn't disrespect you with this. I hope that you know that I want to carry this burden with you. 

With hope,

Megan