I woke up this morning feeling so very white.

I am outraged that my elected officials in Newton, MA took a major decision without listening to me and without considering the impact on me.

This is what I hear Black people say they feel every day.

I am overwhelmed by the need to fix the whole damn system while trying to figure out what’s best for my kid within the bad choices I’ve got.

This is what I hear Black people say they feel every day.

I feel traumatized by watching the student representatives to the School Committee (who happen to make up a significant percentage of the diversity on the committee) be told that they were allowed to ask questions for the adults to answer, but were not allowed to express their opinions about solutions — despite the fact that they are the MOST affected by the vote.

I feel shocked that Anping had to repeat his very simple but profound question (what scenarios will trigger a return to full remote learning?) over and over and OVER again only to have white person after white person explain to him (wrongly) that his question had been answered.

I feel furious that several white school committee members explicitly based their decisions for the district on their own personal experience but brushed off others’ experiences by saying that “we have to rely on the experts” (who, by the way, they chose).

I feel resentful that the two “minorities” on the committee who spoke for me — Matthew and Tamika — had to express themselves using white supremacist cultural rules (calm, composed, eloquent, detached) despite the fact that they were fighting for our lives and the wellbeing of our children.

This is what I hear Black people say they feel every day.

I feel frightened that working people — especially teachers and nurses — are unprotected and vulnerable for the sake of the “preferences” of rich, white people.

I feel UNSAFE in Newton, MA because the system is not designed to protect all people, listen to all people, respond to a diversity of perspectives or even to consider them. 

This is what I hear Black people say they feel every day.