“Remember that we have two eyes and two ears, but only one mouth for a reason.” Traditional folk proverb

The horrific deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor and the events following are too raw and too real for any commentary grounded in reflection by a white man.  These deaths call for the action we are seeing in the streets.  Action that has been missing for far too long in this country.  White people play a crucial role in this action; we whites built this system and we need to help dismantle it.  Yet this seems like a time to let black voices be heard on the matter and for whites to listen, reflect, and follow.  Think of it as a long moment of silence for all the violence since 1619. 

Silence can be troublesome either way you have it.  Silence can be oppressive and evasive, a stalling tactic, an excuse not to commit or contribute to a needed conversation.  One can make a rather convincing argument that white people have been too silent about race and whiteness, and I would have a hard time disagreeing with such an argument. Yet in this moment silence can also create a new space for new voices.  Silence allows for serious reflection, the self-reflection whites have avoided for centuries.  A long moment of silence is qualitatively different than the usual silence of white people, which is typically an attempt to ignore, cover up, and dismiss the violence we have perpetrated and perpetuated. 

The long moment of silence is a chance to hear the voices outside ourselves that we have marginalized for far too long.  So to my white brothers and sisters, let’s try this.  Are you ready? Let’s listen to what the voices in the street are telling us.  To the voices that are angry, outraged, sad, and weary.  Voices that long to be heard.  To my white activist brothers and sisters, who have been trained to be a voice for the voiceless, let us remember and understand that everyone has a voice and sometimes we just need to be silent to hear it.  Listen.  To the voices that are hoarse and weak from shouting.  Let us be present and trust in the truth they speak.  Listen, they are talking to you and me.  Can we hear them?

Resources

The Color of Covid and the New Jim Crow

Michael Eric Dyson, Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America.  New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2017.

Maya Angelou, “Still I Rise.”