I will admit I have only so far listened to Zoom Talk #10 and was completely put off by the host’s weak discussion of BLM and oppression. He immediately started discussing how oppression could happen against AnYoNE, even white people, and it is sooo absurd to oppress another person, (obvious) and that THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO white people were slaves TOO. What a disappointing way to deflect the Black Lives Matter message calling for justice for Black people in the present day, not to mention that the large majority of BLM demands are around addressing structural inequalities and maintained systems of racism, not about direct person to person discrimination (although that’s important too). It was disappointing to hear a white person re-direct the BLM conversation to “And WHiTE PeOPle wERe SLAvEs too” and completely mischaracterize what people are demanding in this moment. With all respect (and as a fellow white person) I hope the host reconsiders how his framing here may be inaccurate and harmful to the larger movement for racial justice.
