Dear President Trump, For a few days now, I’ve been chewing on something to tell you about, trying to figure out how to frame it, what to include, what to let stay shadowy. This morning while I was getting some exercise I finally decided I was ready to tackle it (I’ll tell you what “it” … Continue reading “Atmospheric discrimination”
Visibility
Marginalized voices
Dear President Trump, I told you yesterday that Laura and I took the dogs on a walking tour of the University campus to see the heron rookery. We tagged on visiting a couple of the newer buildings on campus that Laura wanted to show me with the idea that I could go in and check … Continue reading Marginalized voices
White by design
Dear President Trump, It’s only 1pm and already it’s been another banner bird day. We took the dogs to the Union Bay Natural Area this morning and saw or heard the following birds: redwing blackbirds, seagulls, mallards, song sparrows, wrens, two osprey (plus noisy chicks), and a heron. We also saw turtles sunning themselves on … Continue reading White by design
Enlightening bolts and Mx.
Dear President Trump, I can always tell when you and your administration are stressed because your contact page “autoreplies” are delayed such that notes back to me come in odd clumps days later rather than arriving within a few minutes of submission. This latest round has been going on since the Mueller report was finalized. … Continue reading Enlightening bolts and Mx.
Katie Porter rocks!
Dear President Trump, This morning, once I was fully awake, I realized I was thinking about California Representative Katie Porter. Yesterday evening I watched her laser-focused questioning of JPMorgan Chase’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, and apparently she was so compelling my brain wouldn’t let her go. Did you see the clips? No? I’m shocked! Well, the … Continue reading Katie Porter rocks!
Sick of sticking to the script
Dear President Trump, This morning on the way to church I was thinking about the HP article by Felicia Harris where she describes how Michelle Obama “crashed” her book club meeting. Really, the book club members won tickets to Obama’s book tour and it happened that Obama had read the love letter they sent her … Continue reading Sick of sticking to the script
Unpacking radical empathy (Part 4)
Dear President Trump, For some reason I didn’t include the phrase “radical empathy” in my letter to you the other day when I told you about Susan Lanzoni’s WP piece about how white people’s failure of empathy significantly contributes to racial bias and racism. I did use it to title several of the letters in … Continue reading Unpacking radical empathy (Part 4)
Radical empathy and more lack thereofs (Part 3)
Dear President Trump, Even though I’d rather fuss at you about any number of things, it feels important to instead tell you about a couple of concrete examples where I’ve caught myself behaving in ways that lacked empathy for black people since there’s little point in just focusing on these issues in the abstract. The … Continue reading Radical empathy and more lack thereofs (Part 3)
Radical empathy and lack thereof (Part 2)
Dear President Trump, When someone gets hurt in your presence of do you involuntarily wince and feel a zing almost as though it was you who was injured? I honestly don’t know whether narcissistic sociopaths have that capacity, but I rather doubt it so maybe you don’t know what it’s like to feel your stomach … Continue reading Radical empathy and lack thereof (Part 2)
Radical empathy (Part 1)
Dear President Trump, I suppose it doesn’t matter too, too much where I start, no matter what angle one approaches it from, it’s sad, infuriating, and overwhelming. But it does feel important to get the story straight and to tell it reasonably well since it’s one that so many of us white people have a … Continue reading Radical empathy (Part 1)
