It may not seem like it, but there is a HUGE different between sympathy and empathy, a difference that I experienced first hand during our racial caucus which left me extremely conflicted. I was a member of the white caucus and was asked to caucus with my group in a separate room than everyone else. My initial feelings as I walked down the hall to another classroom were of guilt and shame, the worst part is I couldn’t really comprehend why. After days of collecting my thoughts I come to the following conclusions:
Even though I have never personally participated in racism, my white privilege has let me down a very sheltered road, so one source of the shame I feel comes from being privileged. The question I then ask is do I need to be shameful that I have been privileged when it comes to race? There are many other areas of my life that I have struggled with prejudices, stereotypes, and biases, like my sexuality and gender, so is it fair to beat myself up because I haven’t been negatively effected by race as well? This disconnect helped me come to the realization that I can not empathize with those individuals who have struggled with racial turmoil. While I think having sympathy towards a situation or a specific individual is important and should present in many interactions, empathy is where the key to understanding lies. Here comes the guilt, I feel guilty that I don’t understand what it is like to be completely aware of the color of your skin from a young age because that is the sole factor people judge you on, I feel guilty that I don’t know what it’s like to be turned away from an apartment or a job because of the color of my skin, and above all else, I feel guilty that I have not played an active role in changing racism in our society. Quite frankly, I don’t want to live in a place that does not consider each and every person equally, men and women, black, white, latino, asian, homosexuals, bisexuals, heterosexuals, IT SHOULD NOT MATTER!
Lastly, my plan for action, well at least where I got a little bit of inspiration this past week. Patricia Hill Collins writes in “Toward a New Vision: Race, Class, and Gender” that social change is vitally dependent on “seeing the barriers created by race, class, and gender as interlocking categories” and that “transcending these barriers” will aid in “building the types of coalitions essential for social change” (p.606). Importantly, we have to work together to radicalize the current set up of our society and the way in which it works.