Antiracist Grandma = Antiracist Grandson
Arleen Williams is the author of three novels and three memoirs, most recently The Ex-Mexican Wives Club. She co-authored a dozen short books in easy English for adults, and her poetry appears in Chrysanthemum 2020 Literary Anthology and Indolent Books-What Rough Beast. After decades teaching immigrants and refugees, Arleen is now emeritus faculty at South Seattle College. She lives with her husband and plays with her grandson in Seattle, Washington. To learn more, please visit www.arleenwilliams.com and www.notalkingdogspress.com.
By Arleen Williams
My grandson is a year old this month. A privileged white male born to the cacophony of social justice marchers below his parents’ hospital window in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood during the worst pandemic since 1918 and the most divisive federal government in U.S. history.
I am a white woman in her mid-sixties. Spurred by the murder of George Floyd, I embarked on a journey of personal education and became deeply engrossed in social justice reading, devouring the works of Michelle Alexander, James Baldwin, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Ibram X. Kendi, Kiese Laymon, Wesley Lowery, Ijeoma Oluo, Mychal Denzel Smith, William Still, Isabel Wilkerson, and others. I read to make sense of the growing violence in our streets and growing discord on the college campus where I had taught for decades. I thought I had a decent understanding of the history of racial injustice and the roots of police violence against people of color in my country. I was wrong. My empathy could not replace or forgive my ignorance of the intentional, systematic racism permeating every aspect of American life. As I blogged in July 2020, I feel my rosy colored glasses shattering. I have lived a life of guilt and empathy, aware that my white skin gives me privilege and security others do not have. Still, I have been blind to the depth of systematic racism, inequity, and violence surrounding me every day. The fact that I got through eighteen years of American education having never been introduced to James Baldwin speaks volumes. I still have so very much to learn. (http://arleenkaywilliams.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-pacific-northwest-summer.html, July 31, 2020)
A week after posting that piece and three weeks before my daughter’s due date, my pandemic grandson was born. He came to us not only when COVID was still on the rise, but also during the most profound social and political upheaval since the Civil War, and on the cusp of a national election that would direct the course of this nation, and perhaps the world. I was terrified.
My reading and research shifted. I needed to learn more not only about antiracism, but also about how to help raise my grandson to be an antiracist ally. The resources were abundant and easily available on the internet and in libraries and bookstores. I just needed to look. Our country is changing, and I believe these are positive, long overdue changes. My profound hope is that my grandson will mature in a world where the color of his skin does not grant him privilege others are equally denied.
To ensure this change, education is needed, not only in our schools, but also within our families. My mother used to say: education begins at home. Only now do I learn that Geoffrey Holder, a black man, is credited with that quote. Both were correct. As with so much in life, we must start with ourselves. By educating ourselves and leading by example, we are better equipped to educate our white children and grandchildren. It is not going to be easy, but together we can dismantle systematic racism and build a more just world for all.