Bottom Line: What I’m asking is that you first accept the racism within yourself, accept all of the truth about what it means for you to be white in a society that was created for you.

• Let me demonstrate the vulnerability that I wish you to show.
  • *implicit* My vulnerability is similar to the vulnerability that you have but may not be willing to admit.
  • “What if I told you that I’m sexist? Well, I am. Yes.”
    • There are few men, I believe, who would say that they are sexists, and even fewer would admit that their sexism actually oppresses women.
  • Academics and philosophers are supposed to be “enlightened individuals.”
    • *implicit* “Enlightened individuals” are not racist, sexist or discriminatory in any way.
    • That being said, I’m an academic, a philosopher.
    • *implicit* Therefore, not all academics and philosophers are “enlightened indivuals.”
  • Yet, I refuse to remain a prisoner of the lies that we men like to tell ourselves
    • For clarification, this “lie”, is that we are beyond the messiness of sexism and male patriarchy, that we don’t oppress women.
      • *implicit* This, by analogy, is similar to what white men and women are believing when they discuss racism
    • *implicit* We should want to find, understand and repair our vulnerabilities.
    • By recognizing that I am a sexist, I am able to recognize the differential impact on black women and women of color
      • Namely, the differential impact of dealing with being victims of not only racism, but also sexism, my sexism.
        • An example of black women and women of color falling victim to both racism and sexism is suffering from sexual objectification AND racially depicted as “exotic” or “hypersexual”
      • *implicit* By finding the courage to admit that I am sexist, you too should be able to find the courage, and similarity, to admit that, as a white person, you are racist.
    • However, even though the ways in which I oppress women is unintentional, this does not free me of being responsible
      • While responsible, I still consider myself to be a decent human being.
        • Even while sexist.
      • *implicit* Do not think that because you are a good person you cannot be racist, and vise versa.
    • So, if you are white, and you are reading this letter, I ask that you don’t run to seek shelter from your own racism.
      • Furthermore, I ask that you try to be “un-sutured”
        • That is, to let go of your “white innocence”
        • I am asking you to tarry, to linger, with the ways in which you perpetuate a racist society.
        • And to think about the ways in which you are racist.
        • To put it plainly, I am asking you to enter into battle with your white self.
      • White America, are you prepared to be at war with yourself, your white identity, your white power, your white privilege?
        • What I’m asking is that you first accept the racism within yourself, accept all of the truth about what it means for you to be white in a society that was created for you.
        • The truth, which I am talking about, guarantees you, as a white person, a certain form of social safety.
          • I am hoping that this letter might help you to see yourself in ways that you have not seen before.