- by Cathy Wright

If you’re white, like me, you’re probably not really seeing racism even when it’s right in front of your eyes. It’s woven so tightly into the fabric of Canadian life, it’s easy to miss if you have a choice not to see it.

When my family was still growing and Isaac was due to be born soon, we thought about moving to a bigger house. We went to see a house in our neighbourhood. We parked in front and the four of us walked up the driveway. A middle aged, white, hetero couple sat on the porch next door and exchanged an unmistakable glance of horror when they saw us.

I might have missed it. I might have dismissed my partner if he had mentioned it, and maybe told him he imagined it, as I’ve done many times. Interracial marriage doesn’t neutralize white privilege or cure racism.

The racism and hate that goes unseen by white people is the everyday experience of POC. It shouldn’t take 215 children or a family run over, for us to wake up to it and be sickened by it. We need to start seeing it and put our unearned white comforts on the line to expose and oppose it.

That it continues is on us.