​

 

Coming to a place of realization that you have little common ground with someone who raised you is heartbreaking, especially when you just wish they would hear you. When you just wish they would say, I see. However for white people, the discomfort of clashing with loved ones over issues as pertinent as racism, the ongoing process of colonization, sexism, heteronormativity, capitalism, environmental destruction, and fascism is an inevitable and necessary one. While my father was educated by the military and employed by a neoliberal energy company, he has provided me the means to learn from the other side. I only wish now he would let me bring my education back to him with open arms.

 

White silence is the greatest violence of today. This is a call to action, a call to discomfort, a call to conversation. And though you may cry and scream and grow apart as I have with my dad over these issues, that is the reality of confronting white privilege, white fragility, and white guilt for many people. This is a call to love.