Dear African Americans,
Hello, most of you don’t know me. Statically speaking almost none of you do. My name is Kristin Wilson. I was born and raised in the United States, though according to one of those spit collection tests I am primarily Irish, with skin white like snow covered in brown dots that look like they are trying to reach out to one another, otherwise known as freckles. I call it my Celtic pigment.
I am sorry for the way white people have treated you and your ancestors. I thought with Black History Month, a Two term mixed race – dark skinned President, and even Black Catholics in the U.S.A., that save a few fringe groups, racism toward African Americans was a thing of the past. I had no idea things in life were so hard for so many black people. I will admit it, I never even heard of Juneteenth until a couple of months ago. I guess I learned something from Trump after all. I do think it should be a national holiday. We should celebrate the end of Jim Crow laws too.
For years I have had a problem with the Pledge of Allegiance. “With liberty and justice for all.” We learned that in kindergarten before we knew what words like “pledge, republic, indivisible” among others even meant. More importantly we did not know at the age of 5 just how messed up the world outside of our bubble was.
I did not know you were being paid less for doing the same job as a white person. I thought that too was a sad part of history, as opposed to today’s reality. How can I be so ignorant? Is it because I do not know what it is like to be black? Is it because we had so few black people in our town and public-school system?
Black people of all nationalities and all walks of life are wonderful people and I should learn more about them. As a Catholic we have many holy black men and women who have been honored with the title saint. May they pray for us in these turbulent times.
That being said, Happy Independence Day. I guess. We may have freed ourselves from England but not all were free. Some still live in fear when ever they see a police officer today. Some are dead or in prison on account of racism. Why does real freedom take generations?
Together let us pray for change and also work for it.
God bless you.
Most Sincerely,
Kristin Wilson
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