HuffPo Writer: White People at Fault for Racism in US

White people are at fault for racism in the United States, according to Kim Simon, a contributor to the Huffington Post.

In an article titled, “The Problem with White America,” Simon details the problems that white people have caused in the United States when it comes to race.

Ms. Simon begins her article by telling “white people” to stop sending condolences to the families of the people killed in Charleston. “Stop it,” she writes. “Stop with the empty condolences. It isn’t enough. What we’re doing isn’t enough.”

She then challenges whites, asking (emphasis hers), “Think racism has nothing to do with you? Racism is because of you. It’s because of us.”

White people are ignorant, Simon continues, explaining, “Racism and white supremacy exist because white people do nothing to stop it. Ask the person sitting next to you to tell you the history of the confederate flag. I bet they can’t.”

Ms. Simon

If things that happen to African Americans happened everyday to whites, Simon writes, you wouldn’t want condolences or people asking what they could do to help. If white people want to fix racism, “Give of your time, your political standing, your platform, your voice, your muscle, your privilege, your faith, your courage,” she demands.

Not only that, but white people simply call the police too often when they see a black person, she contends: “And while you’re at it, a kind hello and a wave when a person of a different skin color walks past you in your neighborhood is the polite thing to do. Calling the cops is not.”

Tell your children that white people are the problem, Simon goes on: “Talk to your children. Tell them the truth. Tell them that white folks like them have a history of hurting other people, simply because of the color of their skin. Talk about privilege. Give them examples. Empower them to call it out, to change it, to question, to argue.”

She concludes, “Take responsibility for the America that you created, and then get off your ass and fix it.”