Yes, it’s time to go there. I’m disappointed after seeing people’s reaction to Black History Month and want to address the white people who aren’t doing their part to fight for equality and stop injustice in our society.

First of all, why are we so afraid to talk about people of color? Any of them! When it comes time to talk about any race that isn’t white people, we immediately become awkward and all bottled up. What are we afraid of? Saying the wrong thing? How do we even know what the wrong thing to say is if we don’t speak up?

I can’t name how many times I’ve heard someone talk about a person of color and whisper when they go to mention that they’re black, brown, etc. News flash, pointing out the color of someone’s skin isn’t racist, it’s having eyes. Treating someone poorly or discriminating against them because of their skin color is racist.

How are we supposed to fight to end racism if we can’t talk about it? I’ll be honest the first time I had a conversation about race was plain and simple AWKWARD. Want to know why? We weren’t talking about the majority race anymore. We rarely, as a society, talk about issues that are affecting people of color.

It’s not going to get better if we’re too afraid to speak up and ask questions. What does your circle look like? Your doctors, teachers, friends, school, what do they look like? Are they all white? Maybe that needs to change. Maybe you need to add some diversity to your life. Have you ever tried to put yourself in the shoes of someone who’s black? It’s not easy because you don’t share their experience but if your friends with someone of any color you could get a feel for a story that isn’t like your own.

But then again, not everyone faces the same discrimination in society. And some people don’t want to share their story, which is their right. I, as a woman, face discrimination against my gender but not even my close friends will just come up to me and say, “What is your experience like as a woman facing oppression?”

But getting to know someone who is different from you is a good way to understand his or her lives. Books are another way to get a different perspective from our own. Obviously someone writing about their experience, as a black person in America isn’t meaning that’s what every black person in America goes through, but it’s an opportunity to walk in someone else’s shoes.

Next question, why are people so afraid of the Black Lives Matter movement? Yes, I say afraid because that’s what it is. Fear. Fear from what? I think its fear because someone else is getting the center stage for a little bit. Our white dominated society won’t shine a light on it, so that’s what the Black Lives Matter movement is doing. Join the movement or get out of the way because these people are fighting to be equals in society.

Just like the feminist movement, just like the civil rights movement, all lives matter but right now lets focus on the people who are being treated the worst. Black lives matter; history has constantly been a movement for white lives mattering. Now is the time to focus on people who aren’t represented in history. People who need to have a month dedicated to their history because otherwise we won’t talk about. We don’t talk about it in school, in everyday life, and it’s all of our history.

My last question is will more white people join the movement and become social justice warriors? Will we fight alongside our friends, family, schoolmates, doctors, scientists, writers, engineers, andmore people of color? We need to look past all of our whitewashed ideas, history, and media and be open to the positive change of equality for everyone.