A Letter to My White Children

Dear Children,

I am not white; we are of mixed race.

I am writing this letter today because I now realize that we are the ones who will truly bring an end to white supremacy.

We will do this by changing it from the inside out.

Many will say you do not have a voice. Many have told me the same. But today we can impact a world beyond just the one that surrounds us.

This is a message you must hear, and as a parent, it should come from me.

All my life, I wondered who I was and where I belong?

I look white, and in every social gathering, I am white. But my father, your grandfather, is not white. Papa’s family is Creole, which is a mixture of several races. However, growing up no one bothered to identify his other races. And in those years, if you were not white, you were identified as black.

Today, this mixture of races puts us in a unique situation. We are categorized by the racial world of physical appearance and not one of heritage.

This allows us the uncomfortable perspective of seeing the hatred from the other side of the fence. Feeling the disgust and bigotry not from a distance, but from right up close. Because of our skin, people stop acting and let their true hearts show.

This past week has taught me many things, most importantly that not standing for something, is the same as accepting.

Staying silent is the problem!

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”.

I am realizing that we can no longer ignore the comments and no longer sweep away the cruel truth.

It is on us, as people identified as white, on us as people who are aware of the problem, it is on us to make a change.

I am writing to you today so that you and I can fully comprehend that while white people see the “changes” that have been made over the last 50 years as enough, the truth is that it is not. People see our first black president and think, ‘We solved racism’. It is not that simple.

Too often we hide in comfortable fairy tale, one that must be shattered. I want to make you aware that the color of your skin is a systemic advantage, one you may not see or even realize, one that many will try to ignore and one that many will say is not wrong.

But that is the problem, this movement is not about OUR world, this is about THE world.

As a mixed family, we do not have to look far to see THE world and the hate in it. The hate that would be seen if my mother’s father met my father’s father. This hate can be seen in the absence of family members on holidays or in the disapproval of interracial relationships such as in my mom and dad’s relationship.

Seeing this hate is not easy for anyone, it is not easy to admit when something is wrong.

In the words of Dr. Cornel West:

“It takes courage to look in the mirror and see past your reflection to who you really are when you take off the mask when you’re not performing the same old routines and social roles.

It takes courage to ask — ‘How did I become so well-adjusted to injustice?’” 

What can we do?

- We can stop asking questions and admit that there is an advantage to the freedoms and built in advantages we have come to overlook.

- We can challenge people to stop focusing on their perspective of their world or about how they think the message is being delivered and start focusing on THE message!

- We can raise awareness that not all people who look like us, see THE world through hate-filled lenses. We can raise awareness that the only ones who can change this are the ones who still look through those lenses.

We will see these lenses of hate in looks of disgust, in words of description, or in outright disapproval before any attempt of understanding. We will see this hate because people do not feel the need to hide it from us, because of our skin.

What we can do is show the world that our skin does not make us an ally of what is wrong, but our actions make us an ally of what is changing.

I am writing to you today because I want you to know that you can be part of the solution. I am writing to make you aware that people will assume because of your skin they can share their hate with you, and before you can correct it, you must be aware of it.

My children, my request to you is simple.

Each morning begins with a breath, a moment where you are aware, a moment where you recognize THE world outside, and a moment where you accept the only way to change THE world is to change OUR world.

About The Author: Jedidiah Collins is a former NFL player, Author of Your Money Vehicle, Speaker, & CFP. He helps individuals eliminate the gap between potential and success!