Letter from a niece to her CND aunt…

In the wake of the death of George Floyd and the worldwide protest that followed, a CND Sister reached out to her niece, a mother of grown biracial children. She shares the response from her niece – a powerful testimony that will nourish our reflection and prayer. She writes:

So I’ve given your request a lot of thought because I don’t want to come off as a crazy person. But this is a subject that I feel very passionate about and it boils my blood. 

I can’t speak on how it feels to be a black person, but I can speak on being the parent of a black man (3 of them, as you know). I’ve experienced racism on a different level, than they have.

I’ve had to witness them be targeted by other people, police, and yes even at their jobs. And it hurts.

I’ve had to raise my children knowing that society will see them as black men, not just human beings. I’ve told them that in society they’ve already got 2 strikes against them, they’re black and they’re being raised by a single white mother. Unfortunately they needed to be taught these things. Why? Because they were going to have to deal with the names, the attitudes and the comments people made. It’s a sad situation that I would even have to do this.

I had a conversation with someone on Facebook with regards to the current situation and this was what I said.

People are losing their lives unnecessarily, and it has to stop! Why does colour or ethnicity define who is considered disposable? I’m the mother of biracial children and I worried about them constantly growing up (keep in mind I live in Canada and it isn’t as rampant here, but it’s here). I’ve had a son who was racially profiled. And I look at my grandchildren and I think why, because of the melanin in their skin, should they be walking with a target on their back?! My oldest son sometimes has to travel to the States for business and I constantly worry especially if he’s going to the southern states! And why is that? Because society doesn’t see that his mother is white, they see a black man therefore a threat or a target! To me he’s my baby, the child I gave birth to, the same experience that a white woman had that has a white child. So why is mine any less of a human being? Why are children of any "minority" any less, why do their parents have to worry and lose sleep? No I believe the problem starts at home; we need to educate people including the politicians and media that we’re all equally important.

This has hit close to my heart too many times. People need to stop supporting anti-racism silently and start screaming it from rooftops!

He never did respond, he is from white America, and feels that Black people are the cause of their own issues. 

His attitude infuriated me, because he’s obviously never had to deal with racism. 

I hope this makes sense. I know it may sound like I’m rambling but I do tend to get very emotional with regards to this topic.