I had never heard of the red lining until and it blows my mind. I grew up with friends of different origins and was taught not to treat anyone different because of the color of their skin, and yet at the same time eventually heard my dad using the N word when Obama ran and was elected for president. I grew up riding the bus home from school and getting nervous in the "projects" because they looked bad, had mostly people of color, and I was told there were gangs and shootings there. If red lining had never happened would the projects have looked like that? I will also admit that I have absolutely had the mindset that if "they" worked harder the people who lived in those bad areas could get themselves out. It's all hard for me to reconcile in my head. I've recently been watching Dear White People on Netflix and it has also opened my eyes. The character Coco talks about making herself seem more like her white counterparts so that she doesn't come across as ghetto or low class. POC friends that I have had have talked about the "Oreo" phenomenon - black on the outside, white on the inside - and while I have acknowledged that I never thought of that as racism, I just saw it as them relating more to "white" culture. Its clear that I have a long way to go before I am able to again confidently say that I am not racist and even further to go before I can be anti-racist. BUT I am thankful for trainings such as this and my profession for opening my eyes and allowing me to have the opportunity to do the work I need to do.
