This show asks the question: what does it mean to be well meaning and white in a society that has failed to fully address racial disparities?
If you’re white like me, you’ve probably been told it’s not polite to talk about race. But have you ever really even thought about race? About your own race? About what it means for you?
“The thing that’s really slick about whiteness is that most of the benefits can be obtained without ever doing anything personally… Whites are given the spoils of a racist system, even if they’re not personally racist.
-john a. powell
Director of the Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley
I’m Anthony, a 40-something white guy from Buffalo, NY. Growing up, I wanted to be a baseball player, but those dreams were thwarted by a frustrating lack of talent and a regrettable lack of effort.
Since then I’ve been a pizza delivery guy, a tow truck driver, an indie-rock drummer, and a non-profit staffer. For the last twenty years I’ve worked with organizations of all kinds to do what they do in a way that gets them closer to living out the values they hold and to the impact they want to have.
I started this show because race — my whiteness — has had a huge impact on me personally and professionally, but I didn’t realize that until much later in life than I should have.
I’ve talked to countless white folks who have had similar experiences, and people with unique and helpful stories of how they continue their own growth and development, pushing beyond the defensiveness and shame that too often keep us from moving forward.
I’ve also learned from and am indebted to countless Black, Brown, Indigenous people — People of Color, and others who have taken personal risks to share their gifts of insights, experience, and wisdom.
I hope to make this show a place for folks who are white-identified like me to redefine for themselves what it means to be white and understand that, while none of us are on the same journey, we are also never alone.