I broke my kid’s heart in the best way possible

TW - Racial Issues

I am a white woman. I was raised in a quietly racist family, in a primarily white area. The POC in my area were upper middle class mostly military families.

I myself was not openly racist, I believed I was not at all racist. I was simply blind. I’m ashamed to say my eyes were not opened completely until the BLM movement and I am still learning a lot to this day.

When I had children I made a promise to myself that they would not be raised blind. They would see that not everyone gets the same opportunities.

Last night I asked my child to watch a movie with me.

My child who lives in a primarily black neighborhood and attends an incredibly diverse school.

We watched 12 Years A Slave. I held him as he cried. Cried for the people he never met. For his ancestors who he briefly believed owned slaves. Thankfully I could show him his family history of Yankee soldiers. He cried for the men and women who had to live through that torture. His heart is broken for our history as a county but he sees color. He knows his friends can’t get pulled over in a car and be given the benefit of the doubt the same way he can.

He knows that people will think differently of his best friend and his two brothers walking down the street than they would think of my son and his brothers. He knows and he can be part of the change, no matter how small, he will be part of it.