Brian:
Do you think attitudes toward race has improved in our lifetime?
Cecilia:
We all thought so. I guess my immediate response is, yes, it has. The very fact that I'm sitting here in the neighborhood where I live and the schools where my children attend, I must admit that things have improved. However, it’s almost like one of those scenarios where you take two steps forward and one step back. Racism still exists and I think that's the point. It's still there. It is woven into the fabric of our institutions.
We are not all equal in no way shape or form.
Brian:
I think it's also because back to treating a symptom and not treating the root cause which is how do we eradicate that feeling of superiority of one race over another?
I've watched white people’s reactions to the George Floyd murder online. They all agree that these were terrible policemen. The policeman whose knee was on his neck, publicly killing him, should be prosecuted. But how do you know it's a racist act? We must get to a place where everyone sees it and knows that at its root it is racism, and this is a racist act.
If George Floyd were white and the policeman black, the reaction of these white folks would be much different.
I also think what this president has done is made it comfortable to bring this reality out into the light.
Cecilia:
Yes.
Brian:
He’s not creating racism itself. But he's making it visible.
Cecilia:
Well, I was thinking about it, it is almost like there was a groundswell happening and the George Floyd murder was the thing that ignited everything.
I didn't realize it until today, but people are protesting not just in the USA about this. They're protesting in the UK. They're protesting in Canada. They’re protesting in a lot of other countries about George Floyd. I'm like, oh my God.
This thing has gone global and it's interesting.
In a weird sort of way, it's as if, you don't want to say it's a good thing, but it's bringing awareness to the issue. Everybody is mobilizing to just try to bring more awareness to the issue. How can we not already know what a problem this is?
So, in a way, it's a good thing. However, the way Trump is choosing to deal with it is only going to make, I'm afraid if you are a racist, you feel like you're entitled to your beliefs and that you're okay to act on them.
Brian:
As you raised your children, were you afraid for them as they grew older that they would be in harm’s way because of their race?
Cecilia:
I can't say that I was afraid for them because I don't feel like I live in a racist community, at least not that I have noticed, and that I had to fear for them.
We live in a predominantly white community. They've gone to schools that are very diverse. I felt that this was an advantage for them. I’ve always felt like my children needed to grow up, and think everybody should feel this way, in a diverse environment like the world around them. They see white people. They see black people. They see Asian people. They see handicapped people. They see all kinds of different people and they learn to be tolerant of each other, that everybody has value and that nobody is better than anybody else.
But that is kind of a double-edged sword because I don't want them growing up thinking that it's not out there either.
There are still pockets in our communities where they're segregated areas due to the economics and other societal ills that limit exposure to diversity.
Brian:
You and I were texting while I was watching the NASA launch on ABC News. There were two NASA astronauts with two white women as commentators. They said the reason they chose these astronauts was not just because they were brilliant, but because these two men (white men) would be the right face of NASA to get the message out about the importance of space. I am not knocking their accomplishments but thought if you're not white and male, and you're hearing them, you're thinking maybe I'm not the right face of NASA.
Why could they not have been a black woman and a white man or some other combination?
Cecilia:
That's a very good point and just think about the years that have gone by where little black and brown children had not seen anyone that looks like them on TV, in books, or in other notable figures. This was the whole intent behind Black History month; black, brown, and white folks alike could now learn about the accomplishments that black people made and continue to make in society. Black and brown people, their kids and their kids to follow now get some inspiration and can imagine how they can be an astronaut. The truth, which was covered up for so long, makes it believable and makes it attainable for those kids that are five and six years old so they're not just seeing white faces and thinking I can’t even be that.
Brian:
It's also important that white kids see it too.
Cecilia:
Exactly! They need to know there are lots of notable black figures out there in all areas of every dynamic in our society. It's important for white people, as you say, also to know.
Brian:
I was going to ask you this question, but I think I know the answer. Why are all these protests being engaged in what are more liberal cities than conservative ones, like Minneapolis and New York? The answer is because they're the ones that have been sitting on the sidelines for years waiting.
Cecilia:
Think about it just as liberal versus conservative. Conservatives are not necessarily going to get out and protest, that's not how they feel.
Brian:
I also think the liberal world needs to understand their own inbred tendencies toward racism.