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The following is a thread on lesser quoted words of Dr. King and sitting in your discomfort as a white person in America. /1/
Dr. King said, ‘Whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a similar mass effort to reeducate themselves out of their racial ignorance. It is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people of America believe they have so little to learn.’ /2/
Two points. First, there is more to Dr. King than ‘I have a dream.’ In fact, what he says above shortly before his death is a recognition of his frustration at much lip service from white America but little action to truly partner with us to make Black and Brown people equal. /3/
Second, and possibly more salient today, is the fact that white people in America must *listen.* After 244 years of official slavery and another half century of Jim Crow slavery, we have a lot to say about equality (or the lack thereof). /4/
For a start, maybe allow us into your spaces? And don’t just grimace when you hear words like ‘white supremacy’ but listen to why we use such words. /5/
Dr. King like so many people was a complex person. Take heed in all he had to say, especially those words that make you feel a little uncomfortable with yourself. /end/
