"I Can Only Be Half of Myself"

Hello friends,

It would be nice to think that racism is "better" and that we're living in a post-racial society but that's not the case.

• #BritainsNotRacist till a Black person makes a mistake

• #BritainsNotRacist but stop and search

• #BritainsNotRacist but Child Q

• #BritainsNotRacist but why aren't Black people seen as truly British, even at Christmas?

• #BritainsNotRacist but there are members of the Windrush generation still waiting to have their citizenship confirmed

• #BritainsNotRacist but the gaslighting can be institutional

I could go on, but I won't. I'm sure you can think of plenty of examples yourselves.

So, no, we're not living in a harmonious paradise. In fact, it turns out that young Black people are still dealing with the same issues their parents, grand-parents and even great-grandparents did. Go figure...

For example:

• Being mansplained and whitesplained about experiences of racism

• Being seen as causing contention if you try to set said white folks straight

• Not being able to be fully yourself because you know those people can't or won't relate to the totality of your experience

One young person said to me: "I can only be half of myself when I'm with my white friends".

That made me very sad because don't we all yearn to be seen and affirmed in our totality (including the parts of us and experiences that people are less aware of?)

Subscribe to SARN Supporter to read the rest.