Letter to my Caucasian friends, who know me, love me and do not see me like the black girl any more.
I have been lucky…
Because I have travelled a lot, I have always been the little French, before being the black girl.
Racism is not an issue all the sudden.
This is not an issue for you (white people), but this is not all the sudden.
It is like when the people assume that I am the cleaning lady or the secretary; or when people talk to me as if I was retarded while I often know way more than them.
I have to say, I play with it and it does make me laugh to see their face when they realise who they are talking to.😉
It is the same when I take a train with my first-class ticket and the guy send me away without looking at my ticket because I could not possibly be in 1st class.
Or when I walk in the street with my very white husband and people look at us as if we were committing a crime, and sometimes even say it out loud.
Racism is like a low buzz in the background.
Sometimes you do not notice it, and sometimes it is loud and annoying.
Sometimes it can get dangerous, and sometimes this is ridiculously funny.If you don’t notice it… Then notice it!
And if I tell you I am OK after you did or said something, do not make me do the extra work to make you feel good about what you said or did.
How do I know that you meant no harm? Because I know you!
So listen to the words going out of my mouth, and then believe me.
I love that you think you can talk to me about it but
I am not the spokeswoman for every black person on the planet.
I am just me.
If you feel uncomfortable having done or said something… Check your white privileges and don’t do it again.
But people… do not act as if racism was a thing of the past in your circles, in our circles… It is there, just less loud… But it is there.
