Many American families gather for Thanksgiving, a day to share food, family memories, and gratitude for both. The arrival of early settlers and the colonization of North America is part of our shared history as Americans. It is important to learn and remember the full history of colonization and the reality that it included centuries of genocide, the theft of land, and oppression. As a result, Indigenous Peoples recognize Thanksgiving as a day of mourning. It is a time to remember ancestral history as well as a day to acknowledge and protest the racism and oppression which they continue to experience today.

White Folks Work, and co-conspiratorship in general, is about taking risks to bring our world closer to justice. As daunting as it sounds, that means that as White folks, we need to be the ones having the hard conversations about race, equity, and politics with White folks on the other side of the aisle. Black and Brown folks are not responsible for defending their existence to the very White folks that put them in harm's way.

Keep in mind that your silence enables their racism.

“Are you co-enablers by not discussing it with them? Yes. And the reason why I would say that is because you have much more of a likelihood to transform them than I do, or Jamilah does, or any of probably the other people in this room. And why is that? For two reasons: because you’re close to them, and if the two of you are white, and the two of them are white, white racists—if part of their appeal to Trump’s racism is their racism—are much more likely to listen to and seriously consider ideas about race coming from other white people.” 

Happy Thanksgiving and/or Happy Holiday Season! In the spirit of the holidays, I want to ask you a favor. Let me first confess something to you: I am exhausted. Racism is exhausting! With Nazi signs being painted on garages, racist graffiti at OPRF, and a banana, blackface, Bob-Marley Becky in our community, this anti-racist, social-justice warrior, this Black woman needs a break. 

If we want to make a change beyond the ballot box and find meaning in these challenging times, we need to engage with the people around us. Look at the social movements of the past that created lasting impact, like the civil rights movementsecuring legislation to outlaw segregation and discrimination, or the labor movementestablishing weekends and the eight-hour workday. Powering these campaigns were longstanding relationships between different people with different skills and roles, forged together into a collective by their shared values and a desire for a better world.