Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

I will say this: Strategically, it is unwise to characterize things as racist when discussing racist shit with white people. They cannot handle it. They completely shut down and you spend the next 5-10 years talking about:

• whether or not they are racist
• whether or not what they did or think actually amounts to racism
• whether an action is intentionally racist, and if it's not, whether that means it's racist
• what they know to be true in their heart about themselves
• if they are good people
• how many black people they know
• your sensitivity levels
• that one time a black person got something that that person believed they deserved
• why you're so focused on race
• whether or not you're "playing the race card" to get some kind of benefit somehow
• how their parents had a hard life
• etfuckingcetera

TM

This is SOoooooooooo fucking true. Someday you and I need to have a coffee and I need to get help strategizing about how to keep trying to eliminate the segregation in some of the institutions I deal with. You should have seen the look on one of my employment law partners faces when I told him I thought we all had to admit we are at least influenced by racism, even him and even me.

I debate constantly right now whether it is time to scream "Enough. Stop being Racists." because the incrementalism really hasn't worked at all, for example, over the last 20 years in Boston law firms. Or whether that is just going to shut down anyone from listening. I've been doing more of the "Enough." lately than I used to.

I have been lucky enough to have hired and worked with a very diverse group of associates over the years. I have seen the barriers faced by those of them of color or who are women. It really pisses me off every day.