One Friend to Another

3 August 2020

A white male friend asked a black female friend what she thought of the 'Black Lives Matter' movement - this was her reply:

"To answer your question, firstly I will say 'all lives matter'. However, this declaration around black lives has arisen, I'm sure, out of necessity and not through the desire of any black person; although we are not an homogenous group but individuals, so of course I can't speak for everyone who just happens to have a black skin.

"Fundamentally, the conversation around Black Lives Matter needs to be had by white people, and solely amongst white people; by those who automatically understand the obvious fact that black lives matter; by those who are proudly racist, and those who protest they are not racist but demonstrate their unconscious bias and mini-aggressions toward black people on a daily basis (innately feeling black people to be inferior, whether morally or in terms of some intelligence quotient).

"The conversation amongst white people needs to be open and honest, where they can admit - if they wish - that they really have no concerns about being racist to varying degrees, or excluding black people from significant roles in society.

"For those who don't feel this way, they need to be constantly proactive (not just while it's fashionable) and educate their children; their wider family and friends, and even their acquaintances, about the insanity of regarding people differently because of the level of pigmentation in their skin.

"Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the narrative has to be changed around the concept of different races - especially for the sake of the children; there is only one race, the Human Race: Divisions around this concept having been created in the seventeenth century to justify the inhumane abuses of slavery.

"I can say without much doubt - because I assume this applies to people of all hues/colours - that there are good and bad black people; so-called ordinary and also gifted black people (able to lead industry); black people who just want to live their lives decently and quietly without being visually tracked when they walk into shops or official buildings, or equally be patronised or condescended to by those people who claim to be on their side.

"There are black people who just want to get on with their lives and, who I know, are still constantly stunned when they find themselves being treated differently by people who - when the skin colouring is exhibited by them - describe the change in their skin colour due to the Sun's rays as a desired tan.

"Because there is such pervading, and continuous, unintelligent ignorance out there, there is a need for the Black Lives Matter campaign to continue - whether it will be able to change centuries of ingrained prejudice and entitlement that many white people will undoubtedly not want to give up is yet to be seen.

"I hope that goes some way to answering your question."

Ingrid Smith is a UK based senior content strategist, storyteller & mentor