On August 31, 2020, Dr. Corey Thompson, a black professor at Cardinal Stritch University, published his latest book project, "Hindsight is 2020: The Year White America Woke Up!" When Corey, a long time friend, asked me to be a part of this project, I was overjoyed. I have been wanting to write about this topic for many years. Some of you have seen my FB posts over these years. Corey's project has launched two things for me - the pursuit of my dream to be a coach and consultant in this space and this project of blogging about racism and being white in America.
When Corey interviewed me for his book about being a "woke" white person, I bristled at the term. Being "woke" seemed like a tongue in cheek term mocking white people who feel like they know more. Today, I instead embrace the term "waking" as I know I will never be fully woke. I will never know what it is like to be black in America. I will never know what it is like to face racism in America on a daily basis. I will never know how it feels to have to think about the color of my skin every day when I walk out the door. I won't ever understand but I will stand. I will educate other white people. I will have the tough conversations every day.
I hope to have those conversations here and I hope you will join me. Whether you are black or white, I hope to create this space for dialogue about race and racism in America. Welcome!
What do you think it means to be "waking" up as a white American?
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