Thread by @blackvoices

Miriam Zinter was outside her house gardening when a comment by a neighbor brought her lovely day to a screeching halt.

“Why do you have a ‘Black Lives Matter’ sign on your front lawn when all those people do is kill each other,” her neighbor asked.
huffpost.com/entry/black-wo…

“You know I’m Black, right?” Zinter replied.

Zinter has two Black parents, with white ancestors. She was born very light-skinned, with blue eyes and light, wavy hair. This isn’t the first time she’s had to have this conversation. This has been going on for a very long time.

“I told him that my father, who was a veteran, could not be approved to use the GI Bill for college or a house because he was Black,” Zinter writes. “I told him how BLM calls attention to the fact that Black people are considered less than white people ― and that needs to stop.”

“White people think I am white too, and therefore feel safe saying all kinds of horrible things they might not say publicly,” Zinter continues. “I’ve had people tell me it ‘disgusts’ them to see interracial couples. They’ve told me that Black people are “animals” or “thugs.”

“In every instance where I’ve encountered racist rhetoric, I have told these people that I am Black,” Zinter says. “I have told them my family’s story. Sometimes they say: ‘But you’re different!’ Then I ask them if other Black folks they know are also ‘different.’”

“There is a strategic force dedicated to segregation and racism,” Zinter writes. “We need to stop this. The best way to achieve change is to accept and learn about our racist past and the injustices visited upon our Black citizens.”

Read her essay: huffpost.com/entry/black-wo…