Dear white people,
To be more specific, dear white people who are critical of the Black Lives Matter movement.
To be even more specific, dear Mary Ramirez, the writer of this article in TheBlaze entitled, "I'm Done Apologizing For Being White, And You Should Be Too." I might as well address this to Tomi Lahren also, just for the hell of it; based on statements she's made on her show, she needs to hear this as well.
There are some common myths about what the Black Lives Matter movement wants from white people, and I'm here to put those myths to rest once and for all.
I want you to take a deep breath, and repeat these simple words:
No one is asking me to apologize for being white.
No one is asking me to apologize for being white.
No one is asking me to apologize for being white.
No one is asking me to apologize for being white.
No one is asking me to apologize for being white.
No one is asking me to apologize for being white.
No one is asking me to apologize for being white.
Now, take another deep breath, and repeat these words:
No one is blaming me for the atrocities committed by my ancestors.
No one is blaming me for the atrocities committed by my ancestors.
No one is blaming me for the atrocities committed by my ancestors.
No one is blaming me for the atrocities committed by my ancestors.
No one is blaming me for the atrocities committed by my ancestors.
No one is blaming me for the atrocities committed by my ancestors.
No one is blaming me for the atrocities committed by my ancestors.
No one is blaming me for the atrocities committed by my ancestors.
I used bold and italics for a reason.
See, there's a little thing called the straw man fallacy. In a nutshell, it's when you misrepresent an argument so that you can more easily debunk it. And that's what you're doing when you gripe about how, "I'm tired of apologizing for being white." You're arguing against a belief that we don't have.
I'll bet if you asked a bunch of Black Lives Matter supporters if they wanted an apology from you for your skin color, or for the atrocities committed by your ancestors, I wouldn't be surprised if every single one of them said no. I've never actually heard of anyone who supports Black Lives Matter demanding that white people apologize being white. Never. Nor have I ever heard any demands for apologies on behalf of genocidal ancestors. There might be exceptions to the rule that I'm not aware of, but in general, the belief that advocates for racial justice want white people to apologize for being white is an unfounded one.
We understand that those things are beyond your control. We're not that cruel.
What Black Lives Matter supporters (and I, by extension) want from you is to acknowledge that people of color face a lot of racism that you likely don't, rooted deeply in society and American history, that still significantly holds many of them back; to be aware of how racism influences our society; and to help dismantle racism. That's it. We're not asking anything unreasonable from you.
I don't care what you've heard about Black Lives Matter. I don't care if you heard a BLM supporter say something that came across to you as saying white people needed to apologize for being white, and you can't see how they could have been trying to say anything else. They probably weren't demanding that white people apologize for anything, and you are probably taking it drastically out of context.
When I've posted about Black Lives Matter and systemic racism in the past, I've had many people tell me that the views I'm promoting "just cause more division." If you're so concerned about not creating more division, I don't want to hear you complain, "I'm tired of apologizing for being white," because that is sure to cause division.
You're tired of an imagined expectation to grant an apology that no one expects of you? I'm tired of responding to arguments against a belief I don't have, and if I'm tired, I can only imagine how tired the people who have direct personal experience with the various issues BLM attempts to address must be. Their loved ones are being murdered by the people who are supposed to protect them, and you're wasting everyone's time and derailing what could be productive discourse about how to effectively enact reform because something you heard rubbed you the wrong way, and you're too lazy to consider whether maybe, just maybe, you took it out of context. Check your white fragility.
So, for the last time:
No one is blaming you for the atrocities committed by your ancestors.
No one is asking you to apologize for being white.
And if I hear one more person claim so, I'm going to lose my sh*t.
