Since becoming the father of three kids, I’ve often given thought to the fact that so many professionals complete 40+ hours of continuing education each year to maintain their professional license, and yet most parents don’t spend a minute in any given year to learn about parenting.
I suspect it’s because we believe that our experience as children has taught us how to parent. And because we’ve never seen a book about parenting in our house growing up.
How wrong we are.
A similar thing is happening in the world today with White people and racism. We think that our experience as Whites informs our understanding of the Black experience. We’ve never read a book about racism, anti-racism, White fragility or anti-Blackness. We don’t think we’re racists.
How wrong we are.
As I write this post, 4 out of 5 New York Times bestsellers are about racism and anti-racism. They were not written for Black people. If you are White and aspire to be an ethical leader, you owe it to yourself to pick one up and learn. I recommend you start with Me and White Supremacy.
Becoming a parent conveniently reveals the hardships of parenthood. But White people can’t become Black for a revelation of racism. We must instead educate ourselves, and stop being wrong.
The Ethical Leader 