White Face
You don’t need another white woman talking about her “come to Jesus” moment with black oppression in this country, but if you’re curious, you’re welcome to keep reading.
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The LA Riots (of Rodney King fame) took place when I was 12. I remember watching the news coverage. I wrote about it in my small journal (that I still have!). I need to go dig it out. We lived 15 minutes away from the epicenter (Southern California calculates by minutes, not miles).
I remember being afraid. I thought all those black people were going to come and shoot up our house and set fire to everything. I thought this way because of the media portrayals, the language use, and the lack of exposure to black culture in every-day life. Everyone in my neighborhood was white, and I was privy to some racist conversations in various situations—never as bold as using the “N” word, but demeaning and stereotypical all...