Don’t hate me because
I’m white!
Even though I grew up
in a predominately white middle-class neighborhood, I have never been racist.
When the first black families started moving into the neighborhood I was more
curious than anything else. It’s still a family joke about how they could always
find me sitting at the table whenever our African-American neighbors had big
family barbecues. (I’m so fair skinned I stick out like a sore thumb- even with
other whites).
I have always
empathized with the struggle that African Americans have endured. As an Irish
American, we share many common threads. The Irish were sold into slavery, along
with Africans. The Irish slave trade began when James VI sold 30,000 Irish
prisoners as slaves to the New World. His Proclamation of 1625 required Irish
political prisoners be sent overseas and sold to English settlers in the West
Indies. By
the mid-1600s, the Irish were the main slaves sold to Antigua and Montserrat.
At that time, 70% of the total population of Montserrat were Irish slaves.
Ireland quickly became
the biggest source of human livestock for English merchants. The majority of
the early slaves to the New World were actually white. After emancipation, the
Irish and Africans both faced prejudice and abuse for years. It’s been a tough
road. I get it.
What I don’t
understand is how this country has come to a state of extreme white hatred. It’s
not just people of color, its other white people spewing white hatred. It’s
time to stop ALL the hate.
I recently heard about
a book by Waylon Allen, called ‘The Black and White of Racism’. I was drawn to
the book initially because of the back story that motivated the author to start
writing. It was actually a conversation with his (white) teenage granddaughter.
She told her grandfather that she did
not like white people. She believed that most white people are racist. She also
had strong feeling about police officers being racists and “bad cops”. Mr. Allen
was shocked and understandably confused. He felt strongly that he had to
address this and set things right. He sat down and he began to write…from a
place of love.
I read the book from
cover to cover, in one sitting…with a raging migraine. This should illustrate
the compelling nature of this enlightening information.
The book should be
mandatory for students. Mr. Allen illustrates how a slanted version of history
has contributed to years of misunderstanding, resentment and fear.
The truth that the
author uncovers is a game changer.
The practice of
slavery is disgusting and barbaric, but the blame goes much further than the
cruel slave-owners. (Some of which were actually black)
Slavery and human
trafficking is alive and well. Thriving, actually. Like many other atrocities,
it is a global money maker...a multimillion dollar business. For thousands of
years greedy, heartless people have become rich through this horrific practice.
Everyone involved has blood on their hands. The blame must be shared. It
was actually black African men that rounded up the slaves that were sent to the
New World.
There are so many
unbelievable revelations in this book it will change your whole way of
thinking. For example, the way that politics and the media manipulate race
relations, and how it’s beneficial to keep the climate of hatred alive. You will
start to see how we are all pawns in this emotional manipulation of
misunderstanding and half-truths.
Read this book. Tell
your friends and family about it. It’s time to unite as a people. Now more than
ever.
ALL lives matter.
As Mr. Allen says, We
need to get to a place where we refer to ourselves as American citizens... not
black, not white, not brown...American
