Learning about race and racism is uncomfortable. Race relations in America are a mess. Each day, I see some other aspect of racism – both mine and the larger world’s I hadn’t noticed before. Like many white people, I am waking up to a reality it has been all too easy and convenient to deny.

As my awareness grows, I want to hurry up and make progress. I find myself thinking that maybe if we all share what we have learned, we can change the realities that are facing people of color more quickly.   The craziness of my desire to speed through this time is slowly becoming more apparent to me. I only know a small fraction of what i or anyone else needs to do to make America less racist. We all enter this discussion at different places. Our courage to speak up and keep learning and working for change needs to be coupled with compassion and an attempt at understanding for all. This is unbelievably challenging.

A few years back, I was part of a support group of retiring nonprofit executives. In one session, I observed that part of my learning as I age has been about how to be comfortable being uncomfortable. A very successful white male executive interrupted: “Why would you want to learn that?”

I understood his perspective. For many years, I was sure I could outrun or outsmart pain and discomfort. Over time, I came to believe that emotional balance (or intelligence as some call it) requires accepting the inevitability of pain and discomfort. Similarly, my path of spiritual growth has led me to stop running from suffering and pause to see its value.

Resmaa Menakem, a Minneapolis-based clinical therapist and racial trauma expert, in the invitation to a podcast produced by On Being observes: “An embodied antiracist culture and practice doesn’t exist. And now you have to create it.”

If you are willing to be uncomfortable and to learn about racism, here is the link to an eye-opening discussion between Resmaa Menakem and sociologist and author Robin DeAngelo on the changes required to build “an antiracist culture and practice”. https://engage.onbeing.org/answering_what_can_i_do?utm_campaign=20200711_the_pause&utm_medium=email&utm_source=onbeing

For a different and equally sobering reality check, Oprah Winfrey offers a poignant view into the world of Black Fathers in her special One Hundred Black Fathers. 
https://youtu.be/YkH_C2Jx85E

Countless ways exist to learn about our racial history and the presence of racism everywhere. Never in my lifetime have I seen so much curated, quality information available.  The knowledge is beckoning us, if we are willing to take the time to learn and face the necessary discomfort.  Indeed, heeding that call is the only way to start the process of co-creating a culture that has never existed.

This post was first published on July 15, 2020.