I blog every Sunday night for two reasons.  One, because it's nice for me to reflect on the week, and two, because I think it's a heartfelt journal that my kids may want to read someday.  Usually I write for myself, but tonight, it's for my kids. 

Unless you've been totally off the grid, you know that hundreds of alt-right, white supremacist neo-Nazi men marched in Charlottesville, Virginia yesterday, chanting slurs against Jews, blacks, and other marginalized groups in the United States.  A team of protestors stood up to them.  One 20 year-old neo-Nazi drove a car into the protestors, killing a 32 year-old woman, Heather Heyer.  She is a hero who died standing up for what she believed.

President Trump did little to condemn the attacks.  In fact, the white supremacists lauded his response.

So why is our country so racist again?

To today's reader and to my kids down the road: racism never left our country. Racism is America's case of the shingles: it resurfaces when our immune system is down.  It never leaves, and there isn't a cure.  But there is a treatment.

An immediate treatment is to visit a local rally and stand against white supremacy (click this link).  If you're white, there are several long-term treatments.  Perhaps the easiest is to talk calmly but firmly to other racist whites.  We have got to make a stand.  It's pointless to say "I'm not a racist, and it's not my fault other white people are racists."  Of course it's not your fault.  But it's a problem that touches us all, so it is something we all must fight together.  If you're white like me, you've got a job to do. When you hear people making racist remarks, tell them that their language has no home with you.  Tell them you believe in equality.  Tell them you believe in love. Hell, tell them anything, just stand up so we can stop them from normalizing racism.

And if you're not white, I just have nothing to offer except to say I'm sorry, and I'm standing with you.  You are not alone.  My family will fight with you. And we're in it for the long-haul.  I'll see you next Sunday. -Em