You Can't Fight Racism If You Refuse to See Race@thepettypolitic

[00:00:48][music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Welcome. Welcome. Welcome in the morning. Welcome in the morning. Welcome in the morning.

[00:01:26]You guys see the moniker. You guys see the hashtag, right? Mhm.

[00:01:33]And you see the subject.

[00:01:36]So, I don't see color.

[00:01:41]People say that like it's it's the highest level of racial enlightenment, right? Like racism just packed its bags and left the building.

[00:01:53]And all it took for everybody to stop noticing that is that it went away and now I'm black.

[00:02:01]And then I started listening to the conversations around Nolan Wells.

[00:02:08]Listen to the conversations around Nolan Wells.

[00:02:14]Put this in here.

[00:02:18]Show you.

[00:02:21]>> Something else I wanted to say about the Nolan Wells case because we've been coming on the internet since this happened and we've been saying, "Listen, y'all need to start having the hard conversations with your kids."

[00:02:29]Especially live if you live in a predominantly white neighborhood, if your kids go to a predominantly white school, if they work at a predominantly white job, we need to start having these hard tough conversations. But my question is, who had the tough conversation with you?

[00:02:43]Do you even realize that you need to have these conversations or are you so lost in the sauce that you just think that, you know, >> [laughter] >> everything's all good and you don't have to worry about anything and you're equal to these people because you have money.

[00:02:57]I'm confused because why is Nolan Wells' father going on TV and saying that he doesn't know if this is a racial issue.

[00:03:05]They asked him if he thought that this was a racial issue and he said he didn't know. Then he said right after that that he that they didn't raise Nolan to see color. What do you mean? That's something that a white person would say, "Oh, I don't see color. Everyone looks the same." No, that that's a cop out by saying that. That's just saying that you don't want to get involved with race issues. We're not the same. You have privilege. There's things you can do that I can't do. We already know that and if you're going to be my friend, you need to acknowledge that. And that's how I know that he meant what he said and it wasn't just he was being coached to say that because look at how these parents are are and these white kids are treating them. Like they don't even [ __ ] matter. And that's because they've given them permission. You are a dark-skinned chocolate black man with a black son and a black and Asian wife living in Mississippi.

[00:03:59]And you mean to tell me you raised your son not to see color. Come on, man.

[00:04:03]Again, these are the Wells family are victims and we're not pulling support, we're not doing none of that. But it's again, it's important to have these conversations in the midst of this because it shows us how you guys are letting these people play in your face.

[00:04:17]Another thing, how does one retain Ben Crump, who is a civil rights lawyer and activist, who has just recently done the Carmelo Anthony case and then of course George Floyd? How does one retain Ben Crump, Colin Kaepernick, and Tyler Perry and not believe that it's a race issue?

[00:04:38]These are civil rights activists and and So again, my whole point was yes, we need to be having the hard conversations with our kids, but who's going to have hard conversations with y'all?

[00:04:52]>> Mhm.

[00:04:53]>> Something else I >> Mhm.

[00:04:56]And that for that that phrase, I don't see color stay with me, right? We don't see color.

[00:05:04]I understand what people mean when they say it.

[00:05:08]They mean I don't judge people by their race. That's basically what they mean.

[00:05:14]They mean I'm black, but me being black don't bother them, right? And I believe a lot of people who say it have very good intention. They have very good intentions.

[00:05:25]But I have a question.

[00:05:26]How are you going to see racism if you refuse to see race?

[00:05:32]Because I see color. I see black people, I see white people, I see Asian people.

[00:05:37]I see people from different cultures, different backgrounds, different experiences, and noticing that does not make me racist.

[00:05:47]What matters is what I decide about you because of what I see.

[00:05:54]Let me show you this clip.

[00:05:56]>> Saying we don't see color and that we hope this isn't about racism or race when you're in Mississippi and you had to send your son's body [music] out to get a independent autopsy because you do not trust that you can get a fair and honest answer from where you live has to be some of the craziest work I have ever seen. And whether intentionally or unintentionally trying to make your kid {quote} colorblind in a place where it was normal to hang people from trees has to be insane. Understand because hateful people are teaching their kids about color, right? They're just teaching them the opposite side.

[00:06:43]And you know who they tell these kids to go after? Kids like Nolan Walls.

[00:06:48]Because those are some of the most unsuspecting, unprotected people around.

[00:06:53]Because they are told growing up that you are the same as your counterparts, you will be treated the same, and you should act the same.

[00:07:00]And it is a rare, rare, rare case that you are ever targeted because of your skin color.

[00:07:06]And if these kids that were involved were black, how many people would already be in the interrogation room or in handcuffs?

[00:07:14]They're moving like this because all of these families are wealthy, wealthy families. But what's your thoughts about this? Like, comment, repost.

[00:07:21]>> Mhm.

[00:07:24]And this is where the conversation gets uncomfortable for some people.

[00:07:28]Because we have spent years teaching people that the polite thing to do is pretend race is invisible.

[00:07:35]But race has never been invisible in the United States.

[00:07:40]It was written into laws.

[00:07:44]It decided where people lived.

[00:07:49]Where they could go to school, who they could marry, where they could sit, where they could vote.

[00:07:56]And now after all of that history, all that history of anti-blackness, we have somehow decided that acknowledging race is a problem.

[00:08:09]No.

[00:08:11]The problem was never seeing color.

[00:08:14]The problem was what people decided that color meant.

[00:08:19]Seeing a black man is not racism.

[00:08:23]Acknowledging that that is a black man is not racism.

[00:08:28]Deciding he's dangerous before he even opens his mouth is racism.

[00:08:37]Seeing a white person is not racism.

[00:08:41]Automatically attaching innocence, safety, or trustworthiness to somebody who's white is where we need to start asking questions.

[00:08:54]I don't need you to pretend I'm not black to respect me.

[00:08:58]I need you to see that I am black without deciding who I am because I'm black.

[00:09:06]Those are two completely different things.

[00:09:10]And maybe the problem with color blindness is that while everybody is congratulating themselves for not seeing color, they have also trained themselves not to see what happens to people because of it.

[00:09:26]Y'all hit the like, share, and subscribe button, please and thank you.

[00:09:30]Somewhere along the way, we made people afraid to acknowledge race.

[00:09:36]You can describe somebody's shirt, their height, their hair, their tattoos. You will say that tall man with blue jacket standing by the door.

[00:09:45]Baby, there are four tall men wearing blue jackets.

[00:09:50]You mean the black man?

[00:09:52]You can say black. Black is not a dirty word.

[00:09:57]But some people have made it so.

[00:10:00]>> I just finished watching the interview of Nolan Wells' parents [music] along with attorney Ben Crump.

[00:10:05]And um what I'm about to say, it will be insensitive.

[00:10:08]>> [music] >> It will be. And I really don't give a damn how y'all feel. We need the uncomfortability right now. So if you don't have the stomach [music] to hear it, just go on and keep scrolling cuz again, I don't give a damn how you feel.

[00:10:17]Nolan Wells' parents are partially responsible for what happened to [music] him.

[00:10:21]I'll say it again. Nolan Wells' parents are partially responsible for what happened to him. You want to know what confirmed it for me? Hearing them say, "We don't see color." [music] "We don't see color and we taught our son not to see color." That right there confirmed it. Y'all are part of the reason >> [music] >> why that boy is where he is right now.

[00:10:39]If you are raising a black child in America, you cannot teach a black child not to see color.

[00:10:45]If you are raising a black American kid, you cannot teach a black American kid that they are equal to their white American counterparts. You cannot teach a black American kid that they will get away with the same things as their white American counterparts. Baby, it's 2026 and we still don't have equality. We still don't get justice. And that is why we have to see color. That is why. How many arrests have been made in in connection to this case? Somebody let me know.

[00:11:08]How many people have been arrested? If one white boy >> [music] >> and three black boys went on a boat and three black boys returned, but that one white boy didn't, those three black boys would have been arrested within the same damn hour. They wouldn't have time to lawyer up.

[00:11:22]>> [music] >> They wouldn't have time to go call mama and go home.

[00:11:25]And that is why we see color. It's not even just the fact that [music] something happened to Nolan cuz we we we know that. He's dead. We know something happened to him, right? [music] It's the fact that nothing is being done about the fact that Nolan is dead.

[00:11:39]And you know why nothing's being done?

[00:11:42]Because of his color. Because he's black.

[00:11:45]But y'all, as his parents don't see color, I hate that this is the way y'all had to learn this lesson, but lesson learned.

[00:11:53]>> Mhm.

[00:11:55]Mhm.

[00:11:57]And that is the confusion.

[00:11:59]We have taken recognizing race and made it sound like the same thing as judging someone because of their race.

[00:12:08]It is not.

[00:12:09]I can look at a white man and know he is white without deciding he's racist.

[00:12:16]I can look at a black man and know he's black without deciding that he's dangerous.

[00:12:21]I can see an Asian woman without deciding she must be good at math. And I can see a Filipino or Latin a Latin dude without making assumptions about his citizenship.

[00:12:34]The racism is not in what your eyes recognize. The racism is in the story your mind writes before that person ever opens their mouth.

[00:12:45]And everybody has to examine their story, including black people. We have biases.

[00:12:51]I told y'all that the other night. I have biases. I have prejudice just like everybody else.

[00:12:57]But I learn to look at those prejudice inside of myself and say, "Is that true?

[00:13:03]Even if it's true, does that mean that person is not worthy? Does that mean that person is not worthy of being a human being?" I examine myself every day.

[00:13:13]Okay?

[00:13:14]We all have biases and pre pre prejudices. You have to learn to face those and know that you have them and not project them outwardly.

[00:13:23]We put people in categories and sometimes decide we we understand them before they even have a chance to tell us who they are.

[00:13:31]That is the work that you need to do on yourself.

[00:13:34]Not pretending you cannot see me.

[00:13:36]Because I get people to jump in my chat and say, "You need to get off those EBT."

[00:13:43]EBT? What the [ __ ] is EBT?

[00:13:48]Before I even open my mouth, you think I got EBT.

[00:13:54]Or I'm a baby mama, or I've been a baby mama, or I ain't never had no husband.

[00:14:01]Your work is asking yourself why seeing my blackness causes certain thoughts to enter your head.

[00:14:10]Why does somebody see a black teenager in a hoodie and think that that teenager's dangerous?

[00:14:18]There ain't that much black-on-white crime.

[00:14:21]There ain't that much black-on-Hispanic crime. There ain't that much black-on- There's not that much uh uh uh crime for you to be thinking that every black person is a criminal.

[00:14:32]Not against your race, it ain't.

[00:14:38]Same age when you see a white teenager wearing the same hoodie and think he's just a kid.

[00:14:46]Why don't you think he's dangerous?

[00:14:48]Why do you think the black teenager's dangerous?

[00:14:51]Same age, same clothes, same behavior, different story written in somebody's head.

[00:14:58]And that is what we should be talking about because I don't need you to become color blind. I need you to stop using color as a shortcut to somebody's character.

[00:15:08]See my color, just don't decide who I am before you see me, before you talk to me.

[00:15:13]Please hit the like, share, and subscribe button. Please and thank you.

[00:15:17]Here's where I don't see color stop sounding harmless to me.

[00:15:21]Because if you refuse to see race, how do you recognize when race is affecting the way somebody is being treated?

[00:15:32]>> Okay.

[00:15:34]White people, spiritual leaders, religious leaders, brace yourselves.

[00:15:42]I'm going to hold your hand while I say this.

[00:15:48]Ready?

[00:15:51]Stop telling people to not see color.

[00:15:59]Stop telling yourselves that you don't see color.

[00:16:03]Stop teaching your children, your congregants, your followers, your clients to not see color.

[00:16:14]The creator created each of us uniquely from one another.

[00:16:22]In every culture, there are different shades of beauty from the lightest to the darkest. There are different textures of hair from the straightest to the coarsest.

[00:16:36]There are different colors of hair.

[00:16:37]There are different colors of eyes.

[00:16:40]There are different body shapes.

[00:16:43]Stop saying that you don't see color.

[00:16:51]If the creator created us all differently and uniquely, why is that something that you want to say that you don't see? Why is that something that you want to dismiss?

[00:17:07]The purpose of love is to give you choices so that you may be able to make decisions.

[00:17:18]You can either tell yourself that you don't see color and remain ignorant, unaware, and unconscious, asleep.

[00:17:31]Or you can tell yourself, "I see color and despite the color and because of the color, I'm choosing to love. I'm making a decision to love despite of and because of."

[00:17:53]>> Mhm.

[00:17:54]Okay.

[00:17:55]And here's the biggest problem with color blindness, too. You cannot help fix something you have trained yourself not to see.

[00:18:04]You cannot help fix something you have trained yourself not to see.

[00:18:11]How do you fight racism if race is never allowed into the conversation? It's never allowed to be talked about. How do you How do you challenge racial discrimination if every mention of race makes you uncomfortable and you get upset? Y'all talking about race now.

[00:18:29]Y'all mentioning race. Y'all bringing it in the race. Y'all always playing identity politics. Why y'all always afraid to talk about race?

[00:18:37]How do you challenge racial discrimination if every time somebody mention race, you get upset about it?

[00:18:44]How do you recognize a racial pattern when you have already decided color is irrelevant?

[00:18:50]You cannot help end racism if you refuse to see race because racism sees race. Discrimination sees race. Biases see race. The person making the judgment may see race, but the person claiming to be color blind is the only one in the room pretending that it ain't [ __ ] there.

[00:19:14]That does not fight racism. Sometimes it gives racism somewhere to hide.

[00:19:21]And that's my point. Stop teaching children not to see race, not to see color. Teach them what color does not mean.

[00:19:29]Black does not mean dangerous. White does not mean racist. Asian does not mean intelligent. Latino does not mean illegal.

[00:19:38]Teach children that skin color does not determine their character, but do not teach them to close their eyes to something the rest of the world can freely see.

[00:19:49]Because when you remove race from every conversation, patterns become harder to identify.

[00:19:55]A black employee keeps getting passed over for a promotion.

[00:20:03]Maybe somebody else was more qualified.

[00:20:06]A black child gets disciplined more harshly for the same behavior. Maybe she has an attitude.

[00:20:13]A black woman speaks firmly in a meeting and suddenly she's aggressive.

[00:20:17]Another woman does the same thing and she's a strong leader. That's just her personality.

[00:20:22]One incident, then another, then another.

[00:20:26]And because everybody is afraid to mention race, nobody connects the dots.

[00:20:32]Everything becomes coincidence. Every pattern gets explained away.

[00:20:37]This is how This is my frustration right here with these co- I almost said the word. These sambos.

[00:20:46]Or these uh raccoons.

[00:20:50]That's a better word for it.

[00:20:52]These ones who come around here and and uh try to explain away or or or bash the black community. They're black, but they black bash the black community so they have an audience of a audience and they'll get validation from that white audience by bashing the black community. This is my problem with them these people.

[00:21:17]This right here.

[00:21:19]They want to pretend like they're color blind. They want to pretend like it is what it is, and that's not how the world works.

[00:21:28]Every pattern gets explained away. Every black person who points it out gets accused of making everything about race.

[00:21:35]No, not every bad thing that happens to a black person is about race.

[00:21:41]Every disagreement is not about racism.

[00:21:44]Every white person does not like who does not like me is not racist.

[00:21:49]Sometimes people just don't like you, and baby sometimes you earn it. But I refuse to become so afraid of mentioning race that I ignore patterns sitting directly in front of me, and that's why I always talk about race. Mostly I talk about race on this channel.

[00:22:05]Because we need to face the history, face what it is doing to our country.

[00:22:11]The fact that we have not faced this racial segregation, this racial hatred, this racial in inequality that we have in this country. That's why I always mention race, and I'm not afraid to jump in the race. I'm not afraid to talk about it at all.

[00:22:28]Okay?

[00:22:30]Who gets the benefit of the doubt? Who gets watched? Who gets described as threatening? Who gets forgiven for being young and stupid?

[00:22:39]It would be really stupid and I when I hear people say a 13% commits uh X, Y, and Z crimes.

[00:22:48]I've never been a criminal. My kids have never been criminals.

[00:22:52]Husband never been a criminal.

[00:22:54]I don't know what people you're talking about black people X, Y, and Z.

[00:22:58]Only 1% of black people in any any given year have a criminal record in some way, shape, or form.

[00:23:09]Not just violent, all records, all crimes.

[00:23:14]Only 1% less than 1% of black people have a criminal record at any given year.

[00:23:21]Go do the math.

[00:23:27]Okay. This is why color blindness can become dangerous when you when you people start thinking that I'm threatening and they haven't met me.

[00:23:39]But because sometimes refusing to see color gives people permission not to examine whether color is changing the outcome. And if you erase race before the conversation even starts, you may erase the very thing that explains what you're looking at.

[00:23:57]You guys need to hit the like, share, and subscribe.

[00:24:00]Black parents did not invent race.

[00:24:03]We inherited the consequences of it.

[00:24:07]And for generations, black parents sat their children down and explained things they wished they did not have to explain.

[00:24:15]Be aware of where you are. Pay attention to the people around you. Know who you came with. Know how you're getting home.

[00:24:21]Do not let yourself get stranded. If the energy changes, leave. If the police stop you, keep your hands where they can see them. Those conversations were not always about fear.

[00:24:32]And they damn sure were not always about teaching us to hate white people.

[00:24:37]They were about awareness, being aware.

[00:24:40]I remember having I had a show a couple weeks ago back about the fact that black people don't hate white people. We just are aware of you. We're wary of you. We are wary of what you can be and do to our lives if we let you because you're dangerous to us. This right here, this Nolan Wells situation is the reason why, one of the reasons why. Not all of the reasons, but one of the primary reasons that we made our we tell our children to be wary of white people.

[00:25:16]We don't hate you. We're just a wary of you. We just We We just want you to stay over there most of the time. Because interacting with you we can Our life can end interacting with you.

[00:25:31]Let me play this video.

[00:25:32]>> I think but I don't see color is not a good thing. A lot of white people use this as an excuse to prove that they're not racist when in reality they're actually demonstrating that they have zero cultural competence. Everyone is different. Everyone comes from different cultural backgrounds, has different religious practices, family traditions, and other aspects of their life that make them unique. It is almost to me a way of forcing assimilation. You're saying I don't care what you look like as long as you conform to these standards. And that's typically the way that I see it used by when white people say this. But the second someone starts to act like the stereotype of what people think of then that becomes a problem. Wearing traditional regalia from your country or speaking in your native language or making traditional food from your culture, those things become issues because you are not assimilating in the way that white people expect. So when they say I don't see color, they absolutely do but they will ignore the fact that you look different if you assimilate. The goal is to be like I do see you, I recognize you're different from me, but that's okay and I accept everyone's differences. We all are unique and bring very interesting things to the table.

[00:26:34]Peace and love.

[00:26:35]Mhm.

[00:26:37]Mhm.

[00:26:38]Mhm.

[00:26:40]And this is the part people misunderstand. Acknowledging that I'm black does not separate me from America.

[00:26:47]My blackness is a part of my American experience and my mother's warnings were shaped by what she had seen.

[00:26:56]Her mother's warnings were shaped by what she had lived through.

[00:27:00]You cannot erase all of that and call it progress.

[00:27:05]My mother could could like white people and still tell me every white person did not like me.

[00:27:11]She could teach me to judge people by their character while reminding me that somebody else might judge me by my skin.

[00:27:19]Both things could be true.

[00:27:20]But somewhere along the way, we started confusing racial awareness with racial prejudice.

[00:27:27]We decided that progressive things was what we would tell we would tell our children and and and part of race doesn't matter would be a part of that progressive thing.

[00:27:37]Race may not matter to your child.

[00:27:40]That does not mean race will never matter to somebody standing across from your child. There's no way in hell Nolan Wells' father should have told his son that race that he shouldn't see color.

[00:27:56]Ain't no way in hell that man should have told that boy that he shouldn't see color. That color shouldn't matter in Mississippi.

[00:28:05]>> [laughter] >> What the [ __ ] was going on with that black dude?

[00:28:11]Why would you set your child up for that?

[00:28:15]That kind of failure in life.

[00:28:18]Oh son, you you I'm the blackest thing in this town and you black. Don't you don't see no color. You you you you just do what you want to do. You don't see no color. Are you crazy?

[00:28:28]Did you Did you honestly tell your child that not to see color?

[00:28:37]Wow.

[00:28:41]Race may not matter to your child and it may not matter to you.

[00:28:45]That does not mean race will never matter to somebody standing across from your child with a gun in a boat taking your key, whatever. You can raise your child colorblind. You cannot make the world colorblind.

[00:29:00]That's why you can't raise a child colorblind.

[00:29:04]The minute that child walks out the front door, he is dealing with people you did not raise to be colorblind. See how stupid that sound?

[00:29:13]People carrying assumptions you did not teach.

[00:29:17]People with biases they may not even recognize in themselves. Everybody got biases, everybody got prejudice. The whole point is to do work on yourself so that you don't bring those out into the forefront where people look at you crazy.

[00:29:31]And racism does not always announce itself. Sometimes everything is fine until there's an argument.

[00:29:39]Maybe that's what happened with Nolan Wells this weekend, July 4th, when he lost his life.

[00:29:47]Sometimes everything is fine until it's not fine.

[00:29:51]Until something goes missing, until the police arrive, until somebody gets scared, until somebody decides who they believe, until somebody has to decide who they protect. That is when bias shows itself.

[00:30:03]If I And if I have to have If I have taught my black child that race is never relevant, if I if I had ever done that, will my child recognize the moment somebody else decides that it is relevant?

[00:30:23]There's a difference between raising a child without racial hatred and raising a child without racial awareness.

[00:30:32]Those are not the same thing. Black parents historically understood that because we had to.

[00:30:39]We wanted our children to love everyone, but we also wanted them to come home.

[00:30:45]And sometimes that meant teaching them an uncomfortable truth. You may not judge people by their color, but never assume nobody is judging you by yours.

[00:30:56]Please hit the like, share, and subscribe button.

[00:31:01]The comments in the comment section ought to be interesting from the [ __ ] section.

[00:31:07]I ain't even looked at them, but I'm sure they're crazy.

[00:31:10]And this is where Nolan Wales made me think about this conversation differently.

[00:31:15]I'm not saying race killed Nolan Wales.

[00:31:19]I do not know that.

[00:31:21]I'm not saying his white friends killed him. I don't know that either.

[00:31:26]But Nolan's story forced me to think about what happens when a black child moves through the world believing race will never enter the equation.

[00:31:38]That's wild to me. That That That his father would even say that. That's wild to me.

[00:31:46]>> See color. Okay, well, you should. You should see color. You should be able to see that as a white person in the United States of America, you could have a different experience than a person of color based solely on one thing, your skin color. Oh, well, I'm not going to apologize for being white. Okay, great.

[00:32:01]Don't. No one is asking you to apologize. They're just asking you to acknowledge. You know, to acknowledge that in today's America, you as a white person will never be stopped and asked for your papers and documentation because you were caught speaking Spanish and being brown in public at the same [ __ ] time. Or to acknowledge that you won't ever have to know what it feels like to be pulled over by a police officer for being black in the wrong neighborhood. So yes, you should see and acknowledge color. Because when you can finally acknowledge injustice, then you start to educate. And when you start to educate, you start to care. And when you start to care, you start to advocate.

[00:32:33]And when you start to advocate, people [ __ ] listen. And then you can finally bring real change. So, think about that next time I ask you >> [laughter] >> That is the uncomfortable part. Nolan went to that island with people he trusted.

[00:32:52]He was among friends. He was comfortable. There's nothing wrong with that.

[00:32:57]Black children should have white friends.

[00:33:00]They should travel together, party together, go to school together, love each other. Nobody's arguing that.

[00:33:06]Nobody's arguing for segregation.

[00:33:09]But, friendship does not mean you stop paying attention to your circumstances.

[00:33:13]People left that island. Boats pulled away. Groups gathered their people and went home. And somehow, Nolan Wells went from being surrounded by people to being missing.

[00:33:27]When Nolan When did Nolan become alone on that island?

[00:33:35]Did he know he was alone?

[00:33:37]Did he realize the people he expected to leave with had already gone? There's already a contradictory story going that happened. One person who's been on the record and the the three the four white boys the three four white boys three four white boys say it.

[00:33:54]Nolan wanted to stay with Katie.

[00:33:58]Katie said Nolan left her heading back to the boat with his friends.

[00:34:05]Two different stories.

[00:34:08]Katie, the girl these boys his friends told the public that he wanted to go see and stay with, she said Nolan said he was going back to the boat with his friends.

[00:34:26]Did Nolan realize the people he expected to leave with had already gone and left him?

[00:34:32]Did he somebody for help? Did somebody see him and assume he belonged to another group?

[00:34:38]Did everybody believe somebody else was responsible for him?

[00:34:42]We do not have those answers.

[00:34:44]And I'm not going to fill those blanks with an accusation because I'm angry.

[00:34:50]But Nolan's story brought back every old warning my parents gave to me.

[00:34:56]Know who you come with. Know how you're getting home. Do not get me left.

[00:35:01]>> [clears throat] >> Don't be alone with those white boys.

[00:35:03]Don't do that.

[00:35:05]Those warnings sound different now.

[00:35:08]They hit real different now.

[00:35:12]We don't see color.

[00:35:15]Maybe that's exactly why this conversation matters because when Nolan when Nolan's father said that, I was like, "Oh lord, I know he did not say that. I know with his black ass he didn't say that."

[00:35:29]And this is exactly why this conversation matters because being welcomed into a space and being protected in that space are not always the same thing.

[00:35:38]Everybody who enjoys your company may not feel responsible for your safety.

[00:35:43]Everybody who parties with you may not notice when you disappear. Everybody who calls you a friend may not ask where is he before they leave.

[00:35:52]So no, I do not want black children afraid of white people.

[00:35:56]I want black children aware of the world and their surroundings. See color without assuming character.

[00:36:03]Build friendships without assuming protection.

[00:36:06]Okay? Because a lot of black folks walk around on this planet and think the young generation think white people mean safety.

[00:36:17]And I've been taught that that's not the case.

[00:36:22]A lot of them believe white people are are Ain't never experienced no racism, don't know what it is, ain't really thought about it, ain't really put no no no thought to it.

[00:36:34]And yet we have kids being hanged and drowned all over this country every day, damn near every day, that are black.

[00:36:45]You can love people without surrendering your awareness because I can teach my child not to judge anybody by their race.

[00:36:51]What I cannot promise him is that everybody he meets has been taught the same lesson.

[00:36:57]Y'all hit the like, share, and subscribe button, please and thank you.

[00:37:01]So, no, I am not colorblind. I will never be colorblind. And I'm no longer interested in pretending that noticing race is some kind of moral failure.

[00:37:12]I can see that you're white without fearing you.

[00:37:15]I see many white people without fearing white people. I don't fear white people.

[00:37:21]I can see that I'm black without believing my skin explains everything about me.

[00:37:27]The responsibility comes after we notice the color. What assumptions did you attach to what you saw when you saw me?

[00:37:35]A lot of people in the comment section assumed I couldn't read, assumed I got food stamps, assumed I'm X, Y, and Z.

[00:37:43]That's the work you need to do on yourself. Nolan Wells brought this conversation back to the front of my mind because his story reminded me how differently many of us older generation are raised than the younger generation.

[00:37:57]My parents taught me awareness. I taught my children awareness, sometimes too much of it. Sometimes those warnings scared us because I went to all all-girls schools all my life until I was 16, mostly around white people.

[00:38:17]My parents had to talk with me often.

[00:38:21]Okay?

[00:38:24]Sometimes those warnings scared me.

[00:38:27]But but I understood the trip that trust and awareness could exist in the same body. I wanted to.

[00:38:33]You could love your friends and still know how you were getting home.

[00:38:37]You could enjoy yourself and still pay attention when the crowd started thinning out. You could trust people and still recognize when circumstances have changed. Ain't no way you should be ass out and not have no way to get home, no way to contact nobody, no way to do it. I don't have that much trust in the world for nobody.

[00:39:02]Having that awareness is not hatred.

[00:39:05]It's just an awareness. So when somebody tells tells me I don't see color I understand exactly what they're saying, but I look at you goofy. I look at you like you're a goofy.

[00:39:17]Cuz everybody should see color.

[00:39:19]I want something better. You have to see me. Don't don't see me. Don't make assumptions about me then question the assumptions you have been taught to attach to me and my skin color. That's what you need to do.

[00:39:31]And if race changes the way somebody is treated, do not look away because acknowledging it makes you uncomfortable.

[00:39:38]A lot of y'all don't like to talk about race because it makes you uncomfortable.

[00:39:41]Why does it make you uncomfortable? Why?

[00:39:45]You need to face it.

[00:39:49]I need a world capable of seeing color without turning color into somebody's character.

[00:39:56]And I don't need a color blind world.

[00:39:59]Maybe that's the lesson.

[00:40:01]See color, question your assumptions, and judge the person, not the color of their skin.

[00:40:08]This is the lesson people have to take from this from this tragedy.

[00:40:13]Somebody got to take some kind of lessons from this tragedy. I don't know what they are, but you got to take some.

[00:40:18]Do something.

[00:40:19]Please hit the like, share, and subscribe. Let me read some comments.

[00:40:23]Watch the goofy comments, y'all.

[00:40:26]Oh my god, can you stop? Black women are so dumb.

[00:40:32]Because history has shown us differently. Welcome to America. Oh, but there's a lot of difference there. Okay.

[00:40:40]Color is seen in reality.

[00:40:43]Someone tell this woman that is not what you you what you were talking about.

[00:40:48]Okay, I'm not talking to you. Are you pro-segregation or something else?

[00:40:54]That's wild.

[00:40:56]Septum ring whale being racist sucker. I have no idea what that means. The reason there's still a race problem is because you can't let go of the past.

[00:41:07]I can't let go of the past. I can't let go of the past.

[00:41:13]Mhm.

[00:41:14]Maybe you can't let let go of the past, either.

[00:41:18]Maybe that's a we problem, not just a me problem. Maybe it's a we problem.

[00:41:24]That's my whole point. My whole point is to to to face your biases, to face your prejudices.

[00:41:34]Just dumb.

[00:41:36]Black people always bitching. Yeah, we always bitching. We always bitching. It must be both hard It must be stupid.

[00:41:44]It must [clears throat] be hard to be both stupid and a professional victim.

[00:41:47]Of course I am. Of course I am. Always crying in line. You see the garbage I have in the chat?

[00:41:53]You can't engage with these low IQ people. I hate to do it, but I guess I got to.

[00:41:58]Okay. Not like blacks are killing each other for city blocks or wearing a different color. Yes.

[00:42:04]See this right here?

[00:42:07]This is This is too much internet trolling.

[00:42:12]Never had a black person touch him, talk to him, talk crazy to him in any way, shape or form, but they know all about black people on city blocks killing each other.

[00:42:23]I'm a black person and I've lived around black people all my life and I ain't never seen no shootout in my neighborhood. I ain't never had nobody break into my house. I ain't never had nobody run down my street uh screaming and hollering with a gun. I ain't never had none of that.

[00:42:37]>> [clears throat] >> But this person right here knows all about the ghetto, right?

[00:42:43]>> [clears throat] >> Y'all get off the internet. Some of y'all need to get off the internet.

[00:42:46]Y'all believe everything y'all see in here.

[00:42:49]If your algorithm if your algorithm just gives you ghetto [ __ ] and gang [ __ ] and guns and stuff, that's what you're going to believe is a black neighborhood. I've been on this planet 60 years. I ain't never seen none of that.

[00:43:04]That don't even make sense to me.

[00:43:08]I just can't wait for the day of reckoning that is coming for you. Color doesn't exist like your rights and you're going to find out. That's wild.

[00:43:16]The worst group of people in America. Of course we are. Of course we are. Of course we are.

[00:43:21]You're more likely to die by the hands of a black man. Grow up. Really? So why are you white people so afraid of black people if I'm the one that's going to die by a black hand? More than likely I'm going to die by a black hand and you're not. So why are you so [ __ ] scared of black people? Just dumb.

[00:43:40]Just dumb.

[00:43:42]13% are always crying and lying about racism.

[00:43:45]Of course we are. Of course we are. Of course.

[00:43:48]You don't even [ __ ] know what happened. The investigation is still ongoing until we have answers, you're assuming race was involved. I never assumed race was involved with anything.

[00:43:59]Not one thing.

[00:44:01]White people get got their asses kicked again and again and again yet still think they're superior. I don't know I don't understand why you have to do all these tricks, all these these laws, and all this this bashing of black people if you're the superior race.

[00:44:18]I don't think you're the superior race.

[00:44:21]I just don't and I don't treat you as such.

[00:44:23]And I don't think I'm the superior race, either.

[00:44:26]I just think we're all human beings and we're all equal in in the eyes of God. As long as God as long as God thinks we're equal, I don't think of you as a superior race. You all think of yourself as a superior race.

[00:44:39]That's your problem. That's why we black people don't like you that much.

[00:44:46]It's not that we hate you. We just don't like you because you think that way.

[00:44:51]Anyway, how you how you doing? White folks built the world. Of course they built the world. Other people helped them, too. That's wild. Shadow who the Democrats. Christianity was a peaceful religion until it was adopted by Europe.

[00:45:04]Well, they put us in chains and handcuffs, raped us, ate us, and did all kinds of things in the name of religion.

[00:45:11]So, I don't subscribe to any kind of religion and anybody who tells me anything about religion, you can go fly.

[00:45:17]Right?

[00:45:18]The Democratic Party and the Republican Party have a lot of racists. Yes, they do.

[00:45:22]The status quo must change drastically.

[00:45:24]Yes, it must.

[00:45:26]Talk that is the most blatant ignorant [ __ ] I've heard all week. Of course Hey, look.

[00:45:32]Look. I'm sure there's still racists, but they But everyone I know looks at character. Yeah, everyone you know. Are you black? Who What do you mean? Are you crazy?

[00:45:45]Fight against anti-white racism.

[00:45:47]Anti-white racism didn't start fighting against anti-black racism. As soon as you start fighting against anti-black racism, I'll start fighting against anti-black racism. That's wild.

[00:45:59]Uh what else?

[00:46:00]Uh and what happened to the post? It got deleted because society is against the message. Uh, well, I don't know about that.

[00:46:06]Uh, why people can't seem to stay away from black people? Are you trying to compensate for something? I have I have no idea what you mean.

[00:46:14]White people bitching about DEI. DEI and they was the beneficiaries of it. White women was the beneficiaries of DEI and they still complain. Now they mad cuz now they they got to come out and be the mediocre people that they are.

[00:46:29]Some of the men, what percentage of interracial murders are white kills blacks versus black kills whites?

[00:46:37]I have no idea. I don't look at those kind of things.

[00:46:40]How ironic we're afraid of white people but yet we had our owner. No, we're not afraid of white people. That's what you we I explained to you. They're not afraid of white people. We're wary of white people. We know how dangerous they could be.

[00:46:55]Why did a lot of blacks vote for Trump then? It's real with a lot of black men voted for Trump. Men vote with men. Men have a prejudice are are misogynists against women. All kinds of things went into why black men decided that they were going to vote for Trump. But it one of those had to do with misogyny. So, stop it. You ain't dumb.

[00:47:17]That's [ __ ] They're not a lot of black Trump supporters. Yeah, there's not a lot but there's enough where uh, they they need to turn themselves around.

[00:47:28]I'm glad that I know another great black people how it is.

[00:47:31]It's too many blacks making horrible appearances on TV, Twitter.

[00:47:36]There's only a small percentage of degenerative black people just like there's a small percentage of degenerative white people, Hispanic people. Everybody got shitty people in their culture. Stop making it about every person that's black is a degenerate. Every person that's black is not a degenerate.

[00:47:57]I in no way, shape or form can be called a degenerate. And there's a lot of people that are not degenerates. As I stated, 1% of people, less than 1% of black people commit crime within any given year, less than 1%.

[00:48:15]Y'all need to do research.

[00:48:17]That's wild. That's wild.

[00:48:21]If a white person says the N-word, they're fired, canceled, shut Then you shouldn't be saying N-word. That's just going That's plain English.

[00:48:29][ __ ] when you call when gay people call gay people names, they understand being called gay people name.

[00:48:36]When you call the uh uh uh a uh Hispanic uh uh uh slur, the Hispanics use that slur amongst themselves, and that's their slur.

[00:48:47]So, everybody understands when you say a word that shouldn't be said out of the culture. Women say [ __ ] to each other all the time.

[00:48:55]It's just this one word, this N-word, that y'all like to say for some god awful reason, when you know [ __ ] well you shouldn't be saying it.

[00:49:03]Okay?

[00:49:05]Learn to learn to do better. Stop being a degenerate.

[00:49:09]Okay? Learn to do better.

[00:49:13]Okay?

[00:49:14]And don't use that word, and don't use that word uh willy-nilly in my chat. I understand if you use it in the context, but don't come over here calling me the N-word.

[00:49:30]I'll see you guys in the next video. I appreciate a like, share, and subscribe.

[00:49:33]Everybody understands how YouTube works.

[00:49:36]Please hit the like button, the hit the hate button, the share button, however you need to do it. I'd appreciate it, and I'll see you in the next video.