From Passion, Caffeinated: “People often assume that as a white female, I don’t have to deal with racism. And they’re right — I don’t.”

From Passion, Caffeinated:

“Having a seat at the table is not the same as having a voice. After all, it was not long ago that it was customary for American children to be seen and not heard at the dinner table. Under the pretense that modern laws and institutions reflect our sacred phrase “all men are created equal,” we often assume that seating brown, black, gay, and female bodies around some symbolic table is the same as inviting them to speak.

Easier said than done. Even when they do speak, and others at the table pretend to listen, polite nods and buttery phrases like “hmm we will consider it, thank you for your input” suffice as enough consolation that they’re making an effort to be inclusive. Ethnic salience in this format is just a numbers game.

The polite nods are followed by statements about unity, the common good, mutual security, true mission, progress — all of which create the sugar that helps the medicine go down. Even in the midst of discussion about racism, the conversation is always brought back to the majority — its defenses, its intentions, its comfort level, its wants, its needs.

So goes the process of objectification: the winner is he who makes his world seem necessary. To me, anyway, it is blatantly clear which people remain in the lead.”