First off, there’s no such thing as race, black or white.
Secondly, the concepts of race and privilege and their existence still exists today, and it’s extremely hard for anyone living under them to identify their existence. Having a national discourse about their continued presence and effects is necessary for this nation’s health. For instance, white supremacy is much harder to pick out now. It is simply unbelievable that white people who were racist and grew up in a racist, and continue to live in white-majority areas, have all simply forgotten years of hatred and prejudice. We did not conquer racism in 1964. It is still alive and well, and it’s being controlled by the same people who have always controlled it.
When Ms. Berry goes off to smear the Mr. and Mrs. Obama with such phrases like “yet another Ivy-league educated millionaire (as both she and her husband are)” and then continues to tell us how they can’t understand what it’s like living “paycheck-to-paycheck,” she leaves something gaping unsaid. Namely, that everyone in the positions of power in the government today, the policy-makers and the politicians, are millionaires. They might not have been when they started, but they are now. Simple fact, there is no one in politics who has not been somewhat removed from poorer Americans, or even lower-middle class Americans, as the majority of the people in this country are.
Now, Ms. Berry describes herself as “a typical white person”. Typically, white people are racist. But we can’t see it. I grew up in a Northeastern city, went to public schools, lower-middle class college-educated parents. And yet, even though I went to a white-minority school for every year of my education; that “white fear” is still in me. I see a black man and I’m afraid and suspicious. I should be more afraid about the drunken white kid in any car hitting me, or the rich white businessman screwing my job over by stealing from the company I work for. Those things are more likely to happen.
Furthermore, I’d suggest you take the time to watch this video and listen to what this man says. Even if you sincerely disagree with it, listening will not harm you, and it will only make your future arguments that much stronger.
