As a white person, I want to thank you for the series last week (July 13-17) interviewing local people of color. Because we are surrounded by whiteness, we can fail to see the existence of “Others” in our midst. I hope the series served to inform our largely white community that there are citizens among us who, because of the color of their skin, suffer the indignities of racism, right here in Franklin County. Furthermore, your portraits introduced us to interesting, thoughtful, talented people whom we may not have been able to meet before.
We all have a part to play in dismantling structural racism. May the Greenfield Recorder continue to think of more ways the media can take restorative action. Likewise, may the white community examine how we have maintained the status quo of white superiority and do our utmost to bring justice to this 400-year-old abuse of power.
Sherrill Hogen
White member of Racial Justice Rising and Poor People’s Campaign from Charlemont