Thread by @ossia

Hi friends, in solidarity with those demanding justice and equality, I am going to stop tweeting about programming for the next few days.

Instead, I'm going to leave you with this thread. I hope it will give you some context into what is happening here in the US.

The US has a messy history. Our economic success as a British colony was largely due to slavery. Hundreds of years later, these wounds have still not healed. We pretended they don't exist. But they do.

I grew up in Oklahoma. In school I learned about slavery, the civil war, and the civil rights movement. We celebrated Black History Month every February. And like most other kids, I was lulled into thinking it was just that. History.

But the past is not dead. It isn't even past.

Black people still suffer discrimination to this day. This isn't just about economic justice – it's about life and death. Black men my age are 250% more likely to die to from police violence than I am.

news.umich.edu/police-sixth-l…

Americans have a moral obligation to fill the gaps in their education. We need to understand slavery, its horrors, and its lasting effects on all of us – particularly black Americans.

You may not understand the rage that is gripping so many black Americans right now. But understand this: this rage is real.

We are in the midst of the worst pandemic in 100 years. A pandemic that is disproportionately killing black people. They would not be out on streets – risking their lives and their families' lives – if this rage was not real.

npr.org/sections/money…

As a white man, I believe the best thing I can do is listen to my black American friends, be there for them, and educate myself on their history and their struggles.

I listened to the 1619 podcast series last year: nytimes.com/2020/01/23/pod…

And now I am working through this reading list. I hope it is as eye-opening for you as it has been for me: nytimes.com/interactive/20…

In closing, I want to send my love to all the people suffering right now.

We are going to get through this. And we are going to be better for it.