When I first told people about the WUWK?! podcast project, a number of the white people initially involved expressed an interest in hearing more from people of color about their experiences with racism.  Maybe because some of us white people didn’t have too many friends who weren’t white to talk to.  Or maybe because they it can feel uncomfortable bringing up the topic with the friends we do have.

Anyhow, I decided I needed to educate myself a bit more about racism first.  But at this point, we’re starting to move further into the terrain of conversations about race and racism rather than just Karens.  

So this week we have a conversation with a woman I’ve been friends with for at least 10 years, which is a great kind of friend to try out one’s “hi I’m white - don’t know if you noticed but I did not too long ago and I was wondering (dot dot dot)...” skills with.    Sandy and I  met in a community leadership program where the facilitator, wise woman that she was, assigned us to meet with one different person from the group each week for a cup of coffee.  As a classic white goody two shoes, I took this homework assignment very seriously.  And that’s how I met Sandy.  And I’m so glad I did.  I come away from my conversations with her with new perspectives.  And over time we’ve gotten to that point where we tell each other things that we want to be true, and then realize in the middle of the night that they weren’t true, and then we come back together and tell each other the real truth.  About what we’re afraid of, or how we think we screwed up or that we’re not really sure what defunding the police looks like or if we’re in support of it or not.  Sandy comes from a big family, and I’m an only child.  She’s proud of her Puerto Rican heritage while I am doing my best to embrace my white half Dutch, half German with maybe a little Rottweiler mixed there for all I know status.  And I so look forward to sitting down over a glass of red wine with her in the evening to share stories and laugh whenever we get the chance.