I am tired of schooling people about race. Or what it means to be “Black” in America.  If I were visiting another country, it becomes incumbent upon me to familiarize myself with the dominant culture’s customs. If I am visiting a country that believes in modesty, i.e., that prefers women to be covered…I would respect their culture and cover up.  Black people or in the case of Black Americans, we have many of the same customs as non-Black Americans. We all eat ” American” food or are at least familiar with it. We listen to the same music or are familiar with it. So the only real difference is the color of our skin.  

In 2017, it should now be a moot point to have a discussion about the etymology of the “n” word. Anymore than any decent and respectable human being needs to be educated or put on notice that it isn’t nice to go around calling people “motherfuckers”, instead of by their given name. No more than anyone needs to be told that when you sit down at a restaurant, it is impolite and gross to eat with one’s mouth open, to pick one’s nose or teeth at the table, or to deliberately & audibly expel air from the stomach through the mouth; commonly referred to as belching.  You can’t go into a store and take things that were not paid for. It’s really all the same thing.  

The fact that some Americans are ignorant to each other’s experiences is unfortunate. Especially when we live in a world that grants anyone and everyone access to as much information or knowledge as he or she can consume. And, given that at some point in our lives we have encountered someone of a different race, cultural experience, sexual orientation, religion, or social class than what we may have been exposed to growing up. Whether it was in school, at work, at church; through a volunteer program, at the store, the doctor’s office…somewhere.  

It’s a conscious choice to not see people or attempt to understand what matters to them.