I come in peace

Hi everyone. I'm completely new here. As my name indicates, I'm a white guy. So, what am I doing here, you might be wondering. Well, I'm trying to spread a little love and a little peace, I guess. Trying to gain understanding from others. Maybe help others to understand at times. In large part, though, I guess I'm hoping I can serve in my own small way as a bridge to the white community. I happen to be one of the few whites who's willing and eager to say, "I'm sorry" to my African-American brothers and sisters.



Not in a spirit of self-flagellation, but in a spirit of mutual healing. We share a terrible history, and our present troubles are a reflection of that history. Until we join hands and learn to live with each other, understand each other, and love each other as brothers and sisters, we as a nation will continue to be divided. Well, this is a long-winded way of introducing myself, but I hope it at least expresses the spirit in which I join this forum. Thanks for reading.

[Sumyr]

Welcome to Afro Chat! Let me be the first to say that your intentions appear sincere. Two things are for sure, if they aren't, it will be revealed and you will be dealt with as the Afro's here have a low tolerance for BS and that's from the moderators on down to us little people.

But once again welcome and enjoy! :)

[saraphen]

Welcome aboard.

Thanks for the welcome, Sumyr and Saraphen.

I just read the entire long thread on whether whites should or shouldn't be here. So I understand that my presence here will not be welcomed by all. And I understand why that is. Many posters pointed out that throughout history, every time black folks started their own groups, whites intruded and disrupted. How true. How sad that this is the reality of our history.

One poster in that thread wrote something very meaningful: A white showing up here might be a little like a family sitting around the kitchen table to discuss serious family issues, and the neighbor from down the street shows up, uninvited, and sits down at the table, too.

I assure all of you, I do NOT want to intrude.

In an effort not to intrude, I will make this promise. Unless someone specifically invites me to sit at the table, to join a thread, I will NOT even look at what is being posted on any thread in this entire website. In other words, I will NOT go where I am not specifically invited.

I may from time to time start threads about topics. If members want to, they can join me and others in a dialog. If they want to, they can ignore me completely.

But, rest assured, this white guy is not going to intrude into your community.

I wish to engender peace, and sticking my nose in where it's not wanted by some isn't going to engender peace.

I hope that this will help all members here feel more comfortable about my presence here.

In Peace and Love, Jerry

[soulfulempress]

Lol....I feel this post is somewhat funny just because you seem so nervous..Dont be. If you truly come in peace you should feel comfortable to address your concerns and opinions in every post. Dont feel like you have to walk on eggshells. Just let yourself be known. If your not on ... then we will gladly except you. Welcome

Hi Soulful Empress. Thanks to you, too, for the warm welcome.

Yeah, I guess I am a bit tentative. Some of the posters in the long "should whites be here" thread had some strong negative reactions to a white here. And, honestly, I can understand their reactions. And my goal is to build bridges, not create more divisions.

So, I'm gonna start out slow, just as I promised above. I hope some folks will get to know and trust me, and then we'll see where it goes from there.

I guess I just can't sit on my hands any longer bemoaning the state of our country. As a white, I can't sit there and do nothing. I sort of feel I need to reach the hand of brothership to my black countrymen (and women). Even if our society doesn't extend a hand, I need to.

At the same time, I'm trying to figure out a way of explaining to a deaf white audience the truth of their white advantage in our society. It's like trying to tell a fish what water is. Because they know nothing else but that, it's so natural, they can't imagine life without it. And it just is...it seems and feels so natural to them, they never question it or even recognize it.

Any time a black person talks about white advantage, 90%+ of whites just tune it out. They think to themselves, "Oh, there he/she goes....playing the race card." And they stop listening.

They're less likely to automatically tune me out, as a fellow white. So, I've started my own guerilla campaign to seed friends' and families' minds with the truth. I've actually had one or two pretty tough disagreements with family members over it. And my family members are self-professed liberals! Imagine how tough a conversation that'd be with a Republican!

Anyway, it seems like all my gestures are very, very small. But if I do nothing, that would be wrong. So, rather than worrying about what I can't do, I do what I can. And that's why I'm here.

Again, thanks for the welcome! :-)

[soulfulempress]

I applaud your efforts. If you are truly thinking of building bridges you should definetly start by changing the minds of your white counterparts. Because as you have said they will be more likely to listen to you. You seem very intelligent. I wish you luck in your struggle.

[love2talk]

Hey Jerry-

I think it's nice to have a little diversity here, and kind of excited about it. I'm glad that you are sensitive enough as a human being to be aware of how significant your being white plays a huge part in how you are treated in our society, because very few can relate to the plight of minorities. Nice to have you here. :)

[caramelsunshine]

Originally Posted by soulfulempress

I applaud your efforts. If you are truly thinking of building bridges you should definetly start by changing the minds of your white counterparts. Because as you have said they will be more likely to listen to you. You seem very intelligent. I wish you luck in your struggle.

Well said, well said!! All I can say is this "Actions speak louder than words".

[bibadiva73]

Hi and welcome!!! :)