dichroic | IBARW: listening

This is just to say that I have not been and will not be writng a post for International Blog Against Racism Week.

Of course I have encountered a few experiences that might be relevant; people assuming my background and beliefs match theirs (unconscious assumptions that “she’s a nice person and seems right-thinking, so she must be Christian”); here and now, people making a lot of assumptions because of how I look, because I am so obviously a minority here; the experience of having to consider, as a woman, the question of my personal safety on a level that’s just alien to many men. But what I have never experienced is the grinding reality of being a visible un- or under-privileged minority in my own country, of having to deal with it day after day after day. My experiences as a woman might be similar or might not; they certainly add up to much less than the burden American women of color deal with daily.

So I think my place this week is to shut up and listen, or rather read. There are innumerable wise, interesting, educational or wrenching posts going up everywhere; I’ve read a lot of them and hope to read a lot more. Feel free to comment here and point me to ones you think I shouldn’t miss.

Mirrored from Dichroic Reflections.