On Juneteenth (June 19th, 2021), I gave a talk with Dr. Peggy McIntosh “White Privilege, What it is and Why It Matters.” Presented by Tyringham for Racial Justice for BRIDGE, I shared my thoughts and then participated in a Q&A and dialogue alongside Peggy. My opening remarks followed by my presentation for their inaugural speaker series are below.
I am elated to be doing this talk with Dr. Peggy McIntosh and to be here in Tyringham where I spent many a holiday just across the street with the Charpentiers over two decades ago when our children—our Black sons born five days apart—were much younger. Right now, before we get to the topic at hand, I want to take a moment to speak about today and its significance. I will make a few remarks about Juneteenth and later share why it matters that we address White privilege on a day like today.
Juneteenth has been an Independence Day/Emancipation Day for African Americans since 1866 in some parts of our country. It is a day of jubilation, relief, and celebration. It officially marks the historic moment in 1865 when in Texas enslaved African people “learned” of their emancipation from the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation that took place two and a half years earlier in 1863…. or possibly, more accurately, when Texan slave owners were forced to finally honor the Emancipation Proclamation.
Let's take a pause together and feel the relief of that moment. Celebrate, rejoice in whatever way moves you at this very moment as we honor the culture, heritage, and lives of Black Americans.…
Now let's take another look at Juneteenth. We were no longer enslaved, but today we still viscerally experience the effects of a racialized society that dehumanizes our culture pervasively. We were not immigrants, and we were brought here to build the foundation of this capitalized society. (Hey, the slave owners wanted a few extra seasons of work after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.) But yet, we will never catch up with the wealth of White families despite this celebrated “emancipation”. And, as far as wealth, over the next 30 years it is expected that White families will increase by $18,000…. it’s $2,250 for Latinos, and yet only $750 for Black Americans. Meanwhile, it would take 228 years for the Black families in this country to catch up to the wealth of White families today and 84 years for Latinos.
These data points from a 2016 racial wealth gap study is an example of the embedded anti-blackness in our country. Our health and safety are at constant threat. We saw all of this manifest as an unavoidable truth with the concurrent onset of COVID-19 and the number of Black lives it took almost immediately alongside the viral recorded video of the murder of George Floyd. True emancipation will mean the moment when Black individuals, families, communities, and businesses are pervasively entitled to the thriving, peace and success of their white counterparts today—in health, safety, and wealth.
This holiday will forever be different for Black people, White people, and other people of color.... Along these lines, I remember a White colleague of mine reached out last year on Juneteenth 2020 to acknowledge it, saying it felt strange to say, “Happy Juneteenth.” But, to be honest, just the acknowledgment was important. I thanked him and let him know that I worried this holiday would go “corporate” rather than be respected for what it is: a day to mark liberation. And so it is…. Now Juneteenth is a state and federal holiday for all. It took a year of reckoning in 2020. For many, as I have written before, this should be a day of repair and service and for some a day of rest and celebration. We can in fact achieve both of those things.
What does freedom and liberation look like for Us as a Black people in 2021? What can we do to (re)create that today and this weekend and beyond?
White folks, ask yourself this, what can I do to eliminate the disparities and repair the harm on our Black Communities? This afternoon I ask you to grab a pen, your cell phone, or one of the postcards I had made for you here and send a message to a close one in your life with what Juneteenth commitment you are making to addressing anti-blackness and invite them to join you in building a pathway to liberation for all Black Americans.
Thank you.
[Dialogue with Dr. Peggy McIntosh]
I want to acknowledge that this is such an honor to work with Dr. McIntosh—who I will refer to as Peggy from here on out—on this engagement today and another Berkshire engagement six years ago. First, I want to tell you this story of what inspires me most about Peggy. She has invited me to speak here out of her own principles she has upheld in her work—that is, to share the space and follow the lead of Black women leaders, scholars, and counterparts (well before the plus one movement a couple of years back.)
The latest example is that I had the honor to witness her embodied principles at work when she received the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Award. She acknowledged Harvard for keeping her in the rolodex (which I found pointed) and also the incredible teaching of what it means to be a Harvard scholar in pursuit of learning and excellence. But what was most remarkable was how she also shared her space in that moment with Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois who she said deserved this centennial award as the first Black PhD graduate of Harvard. Du Bois attended Harvard College in 1888, and earned his PhD in History in 1895—the first African American to earn a doctorate at Harvard. She congratulated Harvard on taking that step so many years ago. Most folks take that type of a “once in a lifetime” milestone as their own moment and Peggy instead chooses again and again to recognize the contributions of Black Americans and the invisibilization or devaluing of these contributions and accomplishments as she shared her milestone moment.
Thank you again, Peggy, for embodying accompliceship and allyship. What I have learned from you is that it is not a thought you have to ponder... You take the risk of losing colleagues and friends and even suffering threats to your safety, but despite all of that you, Peggy, are guided by your integrity, spirit, and a sense of justice. And for that I am grateful. Your knapsack article has grounded me for some time, and you know how much I appreciate the second article you brought here today, “White Privilege, An Account to Spend.” Today, I am going to share what happens to me as a Black woman in an interracial marriage in a predominantly white county, leading an anti-racism non-profit and raising a multi-racial family in the face of White privilege.
As my husband reckons with the load on his heart while I speak to you about White Privilege, I think of the extra loads I have carried as a Black woman. Peggy and I discussed that I wanted to stress to this audience on Juneteenth that white privilege is not benign; the correlative harm we as Black Americans experience is ever-present in the face of white entitlement to comfort, safety, ignorance and to be honest, oftentimes mediocrity or “good enough.”
While the metaphor of a knapsack holds strong for privilege, the metaphor of the extra load is particularly resonant for me today as I present to you why it matters to me as a Black Woman to disrupt white privilege. White privilege correlates to white superiority. White superiority is white supremacy. When we name it, we can dismantle it and repair its impact together. But we cannot do so without authenticity… alignment with our own personal values and spirit.
We must also debunk the idea that if a Black person excels, some White person loses. Or worse, only one BIPOC person or group can excel or we Black folks need white intervention to help us get along. Who or what is being protected there? This call to this intentional work is a pathway to our collective humanity being restored. May I make one more suggestion... Read The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee to see how the white experience of race costs white folks…
So back to the metaphor that came to me. Let me share a bit of my load with you today:
As a Black mother, I have to warn my children of the dangers they may face when they gleefully enter relationships with White Children. “Things may shift at any given moment. Parents may not accept you. Your accomplishments might get diminished due to your racial identity despite the clear evidence of your hard work. Brace yourselves. Protect yourselves. And somehow still be happy, be youthful, enjoy, love and explore life!”
As a Black mother, I have had to warn my Black sons of their lack of safety and/or to be aware of their size and proximity to white folks especially if they choose to walk alone, go out in a black hoodie, express warranted frustration and anger or drive at night.
As a Black Mother, I have to tell them to work harder, smarter, and not assume they have the liberties and can get away with the adolescent or even professional behaviors of their White counterparts.
As a Black mother, I worry about my kids and/or I excelling too much and the backlash there. Dr. DeGruy has labeled it “post-traumatic slave syndrome.” It impacts me as a Black leader and professional as well, that post-traumatic slave syndrome.
As a Black sister and daughter, I have had to rescue my family from medical neglect that was killing them from the all too customary not listening, over-medicating, and diminishing of their health complaints.
As a Black driver, I have to drive while Black. Enough said. I have been stopped with five police officers surrounding my car due to no seatbelt and only “rescued” by my White friend as we left the same peace retreat. But there were moments I did not know how it would go. Her white entitlement and outrage could have gotten us in more jeopardy. The fear of that moment still sits in my belly and heart. I at once cried and laughed. Her courage and friendship did indeed disrupt the scene, and we both cried together as we went to meet my husband and kids for lunch.
As a Black shopper and consumer, I have to be mindful of my placement of my purse and suffer through an assessment of my shopping choices. Too expensive for me? Too healthy or unhealthy?
As a Black woman, I have to wonder, “Is it my race or gender?” that makes it so difficult for people to hear me, trust my knowledge, my testimony to my experience or the deep strategy in the work I lead. Sometimes it is just my gender; I forget that can be the case sometimes. Peggy reminded me of that most recently and it rang true in some key conflicts I have these days.
As a Black person, I have to keep my dancing shoes on to negotiate white fragility in all predominantly white spaces.
As a Black wife, I have to be sure my White husband doesn’t get the credit for the work I lead or isn't sought as the decision-maker at my organization.
As a Black wife with a White husband, I have to remind our financial institution to put my paycheck in my account as endorsed on the back of the check and not run it through my husband’s.
As a Black founder, I strive to hold onto my own vision and the vision of other Black leaders and educators who historically and continually strive, hope, and work for truth, justice, and equity. It is not an either/or. (That is a tenant of white supremacy.) We can amplify one another past and present.
As a Black founder, leader, educator, I have to wonder what gets extracted, taken, borrowed, appropriated without acknowledgement or request (and often met with disdain when confronted or boundaries drawn)... working always on the defensive. This is emotionally and psychologically exhausting.
As a Black leader, I have to constantly negotiate whiteness taking root in my programs, relationships and operations. It is like weeding a garden. Constant work, constant battle. Exhausting again.
As a Black woman, I have to wonder when my white women allies will get tired as they often do. Not a day goes by where I am not tired in the battle of facing white privilege head on.
As a Black woman, organizational leader, I wonder where and when the glass ceiling (the concrete ceiling) is going to be dropped.
As a Black woman, I hold many more loads similar to my White counterparts and then on top of those loads, I carry this load of my race of being a Black woman in America today with the two sides of our Juneteenth legacy in tow. With this load I persist, our people persist, but it is time we all carry the load in order to lighten it...
Why this all matters… to look at the flipside of white privilege? Because Black Lives Matter, our Black Communities matter, my life matters, my family’s well-being matters, and our BRIDGE team matters. Because we have so much to celebrate, enjoy, and jubilate over. It is time that we are all truly emancipated from the shackles. Thank you.
Now an activity to close out before the conversation with your partner.
Please share the first time you learned you were of your race. What impression did that leave on you?
Please share what you love about your race. How will you use that for good?
I am sorry I have to leave you all to be with my family but I want to thank you for the invitation to speak here today on Juneteenth. Thank you Peggy for the time we had planning and for being who you are, and thank you Tyringham for Racial Justice for your inquiry and dedication. How would I like us all to celebrate the rest of this Juneteenth? Throughout your day today— and the days ahead:
Buy from a Black business.
Read a Black author.
Teach your children about a Black artist, scholar, and scientist.
Explain race to someone that “doesn't see race”
Give something up, give something meaningful back.
Pay it forward…
Do it all quietly with intention, attention and care. Invite your family and friends to join you in doing so.
Meditate with a Black leader’s wisdom. Choose a poem, quote, meditation, etc. Meditate for 8 min 46 seconds daily.
Follow my 5 As of Anti-Racism work… Align. Acknowledge. Ask. Amplify. Activate.
Thank you.