You Couldn't Possibly Know

Yesterday evening I called to check on a close friend of mine who is not black. The subject of Sandra Bland came up. I really felt like I needed to talk about it, but I wanted to have that conversation with a black person. It didn't turn out that way. She said that she didn't know who Sandra Bland was. I told her that she was an activist and about what had happened and my feelings about it all. I told her of what it feels like for me to be a black woman on this earth and about some of my racist experiences. She listened and then responded that she couldn't relate and that she has never felt discriminated against, and I was grateful for her honesty. So often when speaking to a non-black person my feelings are disregarded with a barrage of statistics and intellectual verbiage and "relating." You couldn't possibly know what it is to be a black woman and I couldn't possibly know what it is to be you. So stop right there. Just listen for a change. I don't need your stats. I am not colorblind; I see the differences, and I find them beautiful...♡