~~ Originally printed in Carrboro (NC) Free Press, January 2009 ~~

As a white woman in a progressive society, I don’t often think about matters of race. After all, it doesn’t really affect me, right? As a white woman, I mean.

Oh, sure, I am aware of race. I have the sense that if someone is not white, then his or her race will be one of the main ways I will catalogue that person in my brain. “She’s the black woman who teaches…” “He’s the latino guy who writes…” I’m pretty sure I have never said, “They are the white couple who work…” I don’t mean to do it. I certainly don’t want to do it. It makes me feel a little ashamed. But I do it, and I’m not the only one. Continue reading →