Member-only story
White Men for Racial Justice
“I am sentencing you to prison today. I sentenced your mother to prison previously. I expect that I will probably sentence your children to prison”. Candace was 22 years old. She had two daughters and was pregnant with her son. When her son was born, she had a few hours with him, before he was taken away from her.
I can not imagine the feelings that Candace had! She knew that she had failed her children. She must have been very scared. There weren’t mental health professionals, nor other supportive staff seeking to ease her transition and her years in prison.
In December, 2023 Candace was released from prison. Taylor Paul asked her to come with him to speak to us — men from White Men for Racial Justice (wmrj.org) last Friday evening. She implicitly trusted him and bravely spoke her truths before us 35 or so white men.
I felt deeply sad and moved watching and listening to Candace in her orange jumpsuit facing us.
My Black, Female Partner’s life experiences have been significantly different from this younger Black woman. Her parents were greatly privileged, compared to Candace’s family. I’m significantly more privileged than my spouse is!
I doubt that most readers of this can emotionally feel what I felt over much of Thursday afternoon through today (Sunday) morning!
