The Conversation

Devil Vet weighs in on the conversation, and ends beautifully with:

Start with listening. Fuck consensus. Listen. Do that first. That and when you see someone get a little steam behind them, get out of their way.

Everytime a minorty voice speaks a story, I wish more 'white' ears would listen. Forget rebuttal, just listen.

RVCBard links and succinctly replies:

Thank. You.

A sentiment I wholeheartedly second.

Josh, though, also weighs in, again, beautifully, in the comments:

So I have a question. To put it in the simplest terms: I'm listening. Now what do you want me to do? "Listen" is not actionable after a certain point. Like I said, I feel like I've been listening for as long as I can remember. Telling white people that racism is painful is a first step, but there have to be actions we can take, right?

<...snip...>

You wanted white people to listen to how racism in the institutional theater has affected you. Judging by how much people are blogging about it now on the theatrosphere I'd say you got your wish. For God's sake, follow through.

It is entirely worth your time to read the whole thing. And it is absolutely right. We start at listening, then we move to talking and learning and, eventually true knowledge and, hopefully, actual healing. I have seriously flirted with misanthropy of late, but somehow, I still have hope. It sucks. But I couldn't do what I do, live the life I live without it.

This is what counts as an open dialogue, coming from a place of good faith. Hear, hear.