'Goodness' is not a miracle cure for racism
There was a time I liked to think of myself as a good person. Like most “good people” if you had asked me if I was racist I would have answered with a resounding “Of course not!” But I have come to learn it’s not that simple. Growing up as a mixed brown and white woman in a mostly white suburb I was used to being on the lookout for micro-aggressions and outright hostility. What evaded me was the idea that I could be continuing the cycle of racism. “I’m brown, so obviously I’m not racist” was a favorite refrain.