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Spent time reflecting on Juneteenth today and my role as a a white anti-racist. I stand in solidarity with the my Black community members, neighbors, family and friends.
I read up on both Juneteenth and the impact of white supremacy on San Francisco. A thread
I read up on both Juneteenth and the impact of white supremacy on San Francisco. A thread
I recognize that it is not possible for me to ever fully understand the Black experience. For that reason I am continuing to try to educate myself so I can be a better ally. My daughter asked me today "Why didn't I hear about Juneteenth earlier?"
I didn't learn about it myself until I was ~40. I failed to educate her about it sooner, too. This lead to a discussion about white supremacy, structural racism, and what it means to be anti-racist. https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race/topics/being-antiracist
Even when I learned about Juneteenth, it didn't really sink in that there were people kept as slaves 2.5 years beyond the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas (and even longer in a couple other states -- Delaware & Kentucky).
https://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm
https://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm
I am passionate about housing and transit policy, so I spent some time this afternoon learning more about the history redlining, blockbusting, and gentrification in San Francisco. I want to understand what has happened in my hyperlocal environment.
In reading I recognized that I live in a neighborhood (Merced Heights) that was redlined as undesirable... and is now gentrifying. I bought a home here, which plays a role in accelerating gentrification. https://hoodline.com/2014/06/a-history-of-redlining-in-san-francisco-neighborhoods
The legacy of redlining is concrete and robs (not past tense -- it still happens in less overt forms) Black people of the ability to build wealth through property ownership.
https://www.urbandisplacement.org/redlining
https://www.urbandisplacement.org/redlining
A family friend who grew up in my neighborhood recently told me not only was there very active blockbusting here, but that he took the call himself from a realtor in the 60s warning of an "invasion of black people" into the neighborhood. http://www.streetsheet.org/black-in-san-francisco-housing-discrimination-racism-and-displacement/
This history is barely history. It explains why our city works like it does today, and part of why it remains so segregated. Similarly, slavery continues to impact communities even if we as individuals weren't alive before the civil war.
I'm eager to continue the work and education required to be actively anti-racist. Part of that is acknowledging the benefit I personally receive through white supremacy.
Happy Juneteenth, friends.
Happy Juneteenth, friends.
