I thought there were two very powerful concepts in what Kyle wrote (not the only ones, just the two I want to address).
One was how he talked about privilege. As a straight, white, cisgender male I get a little defensive about everyone telling me how privileged I am, (and how oppressive we are). As a social worker with an MSW, I heard a lot about privilege. But it was never convincing. There was always a "yeah, but" in my thinking. Like I had an out. I'm not personally wealthy, have not oppressed a soul, try not to be racist, do not come from slave owning ancestors. SO while I could agree with straight-white-cisgender-male-privilege in general, it did not apply to me personally, that was the "yeah, but." However, What Kyle wrote convinced me otherwise. The clinching argument was the thoughts on being able to "opt out" of the issue. I do it all the time. Weeks, months, years, have gone by when I don't think about race at all. I did not worry about police violence, or red lining, racial inequality at all. Our Black brothers and sisters do not have that luxury. In this way Kyle convinced my to take white privilege seriously. It also feeds into the other powerful concept...responsibility.
The second concept I thought was powerful was what he had to say about guilt vs responsibility. What I got from his thoughts on the topic was that while we may not be guilty (as in responsible for) for what happened in the past, or for the way things are now, we are responsible for changing the way it will be in the future. What we do, say, even think today, will have an effect on the society we will live in tomorrow. In that way, we are all responsible for creating that future that is just and equitable for all. Those of us who have the choice to "opt out", have a responsibility to "opt in", and make a difference. Kyle showed the way by being open about his own thinking on the incident with Thabo and the police. He did not have to share his thinking, or "show his warts", but he did. I'm even more glad we brought him back.
