At work, we have recently implement a COVID vaccine mandate for the team with medical and religious exemptions. This has sparked several conversations with team members, but the most impactful were those with team members of color and their expressed historical and systemic distrust of the medical community. This distrust is preventing them from feelingContinue reading “Distrust of the Medical System”
Category Archives: White/European Descent
Heartwarming return
I had the pleasure of welcoming back a customer to the library that I haven’t seen for years because this black gentleman moved away for other opportunities. He was surprised that I remembered him even though he remembered me as a HCLS Instructor. I said to him that I remembered his kind eyes. Politely andContinue reading “Heartwarming return”
No follow-up
Our school staff were assigned to read The Little Book of Restorative Justice in Education last year. Unfortunately, there were no students physically in school, so there were no opportunities to practice the lessons. There has been no follow-up this year. This lack of follow-up feels all too familiar. Our School Improvement Plan has AfricanContinue reading “No follow-up”
School redistricting changes home value
A coworker was discussing how the value of their home would likely go down because of the projected redistricting of schools. The new schools their home was districted to were deemed of less value because of the demographics of students and families going there. They did not have any students in school and were notContinue reading “School redistricting changes home value”
Neighbors
I witnessed a White neighbor being friendly and kind to Black neighbor, but when that White neighbor interacted with me, they said things about the Black neighbor that were negative. This made me sad, because my White neighbor knows how they should be acting and thinking, but they aren’t doing so with feeling. I wasContinue reading “Neighbors”
Let’s actually go there
I was meeting someone for first time and asking about her work in the community. A long time resident came up and started talking about how he knew her. He said that she was one of the only Hispanic leaders in Columbia and she was such an asset. She said graciously I am not oneContinue reading “Let’s actually go there”
Homecoming
My story is from a few years ago. My son was going to his Homecoming dance at high school. He didn’t have a date, but was going with 3 of his best friends. After taking all the required pictures, and looking back on them, I saw that they were 4 boys, 4 different races, 4Continue reading “Homecoming”
HoCo is a Utopia for White People
HoCo is updating its General Plan. I have participated in several online Design workshops regarding the updates. I noticed that none of the illustrations used by the DPZ included non-white people. There were plenty of images of people enjoying the outdoor amenities, eating in outdoor restaurants, etc. In the post workshop survey, I commented aboutContinue reading “HoCo is a Utopia for White People”
Caution
I was pulling into my driveway when I saw my new neighbor coming back from running and I waved at him. His family is the only African America family on my street. He stopped on the street and as I got out of my van, he introduced himself, as did I. As we carried onContinue reading “Caution”
Small Interaction
The family who lives across the hall from me are Black. One of the parents is usually taking their young son to go wait for the bus every morning around the same time I leave for work. I say good morning and the boy has started waving at me. Now whenever he sees my car,Continue reading “Small Interaction”