Retirement…from being a white educator

I’m retiring. I’m retiring from 35 years of unpaid, unappreciated labor.

I’m retiring from a job I was born into.

I’m retiring from a job I didn’t ask for.

I’m retiring because I’m tired...like real tired.

I’m retiring b/c I got a 5 star rating in behavior.

I’m retiring b/c my words are not being heard; better yet they were ignored.

I’m retiring b/c the pain of the job is too much to bear.

I’m retiring b/c I simply can’t continue in this job.

I’m retiring b/c the daily microaggressions are eating me alive.

I’m retiring to honor myself.

I’m retiring for my mental sanity.

I’m retiring b/c I can.

I’m retiring to save myself.

I’m retiring from teaching white people of the pain they’ve caused. I’m passing that torch to white folks b/c they’re the ones with daily benefits from systematic racism. I’m passing that torch to white folks b/c they’re the ones whose voices are heard. I’m passing that torch to white folks b/c they have the power to end racial injustice. I’m passing that torch b/c it’s not my responsibility to fix systemic racism...it’s the responsibility of those with power. It’s the responsibility of white people everywhere to give up their privilege in order to create racial equity. 

There will be no questions answered at my retirement party.

This is the beginning of peace and healing this retirement...and I deserve that. 

I don’t want to hear about how you’re fixing it or what you’re doing. 

I want to wake up one day to lawmakers that don’t use racial slurs. 

I want to wake up one day to seeing integration...true integration. 

I want to wake up one day and see white kids playing with black dolls and reading books with black characters thus normalizing black people in their minds from a young age. 

I want to wake up one day and see white parents social media posts of their kids include non-white kids....racisim starts young and the fact that most of ya’lls kids don’t know any black people is exactly why they’ll grow up being “surprised” that racisim still exists...the very thing you’re shocked about now.

I want to wake up one day and see white people’s timelines promoting BLACK OWNED businesses. 

I want to wake up one day and not hear the words “i’m not racist but…..” 

I want to wake up one day and see the change you claim to be working.

I want to wake up one day and not be the first black person you’ve been good friends with.

I want to wake up one day and for it to be offensive that someone would call me the whitest black girl.

I want to wake up one day and overhear white people having “uncomfortable” conversations with their white peers as I walk down the street.

I want to wake up one day and see the fruits of your labor on this job of breaking the system of racial injustice.

I want to wake up one day to laws that enforce equal sentencing for blacks and whites.

I want to wake up one day and receive reparations for the decades of injustice on my people that white people have (and continue) to benefit from.

I want to wake up one day and see actual change.

I want to wake up one day and see white people loving black people as much as they love the black culture they keep stealing. 

I want to wake up one day and see white people willing to forfeit their privilege for black people to become more equal.

I want to wake up one day without the fear of seeing another video of a black person being murdered.

I want to wake up one day and be treated the same as a white man at work...ok, that might be too big a dream….

I want to wake up one day and not hear the words “thank you for teaching me b/c I don’t know how to learn about racism” b/c everytime I hear that I think “well, Karen you learned enough about it to steal our culture so why is this part so damn hard???”

I want to wake up to a world where I have what my white friends have...and my future kids have what my white friends kids have.

I want to wake up to a world where the KKK is illegal...not covered under freedom of speech.

I want to wake up to a world that is going through actual change and reformation.

I want to wake up and see white people campaigning to shop at black owned businesses.

I want to wake up and see white people donating to nonprofits that support black mental health.

I want to wake up and stop hearing excuses like “well, my grandpa is just old school”...because that’s why the racism cycle continues...Becky’s too afraid to correct grandpa for being racist.

I want to wake up and see that you’ve set aside your white fragility...hell, I’d be impressed if you even recognize your white fragility.

I want to wake up and hear white people talking about and concerned about the school to prison pipeline work that white people are using as modern day slavery.

I want to wake up and hear white people acknowledge that america’s wealth was built on the back of free black labor...thus white generational wealth comes directly from free black labor...let. That. Sink. In.

I want to wake up and not hear about how beautiful southern plantations are...I want to hear how devastating it must have been for the slaves that built those things.

I want to wake up and see laws passed that require students to visit places like the Whitney Plantation that actually tell the story of slavery from the perspective of slaves.

I want to wake up and see that American education is addressing the history of the wrongdoings of white american’s head on. 

I want to wake up and see YOUR WORK WHITE PEOPLE so get to it!

Love,

The Good Black Girl