The Weight of Truth: A Journey Through Racism, Empathy, and Hope

A Start of a Bigger Conversation

(We Have to Start Somewhere)

As I’ve traveled across the United States, I’ve seen racism in full force—not just in the familiar "Black and white" dynamic, but in many layers that show up in our daily lives. Racism isn’t something of the past. It still lives and breathes in our systems, institutions, neighborhoods, and conversations. It hides in plain sight—in attitudes, in silence, and in misinformation passed from generation to generation.

Many times, especially in the South, I’ve active listened with people who’ve said, “Slavery wasn’t that bad.” Those words floored me. I thought, how did I end up in this conversation, beside someone so detached from the pain of history? Let’s be honest: slavery was not a minor hardship. It was abuse. Brutal, violent, systematic abuse of human beings. To say that enslaved people “had things given to them” is not only incorrect—it’s insulting. They owned nothing. They were dehumanized, stripped of identity, family, and freedom. If you work, you should get paid for it. Period.

Slavery wasn’t just unpaid labor. It was the psychological and physical destruction of an entire people. A system designed to break the human spirit and justify it under the veil of law, tradition, and power. That mentality didn’t die with emancipation. It simply evolved.

As I drove through the deep South, I saw Confederate monuments still standing tall, trees draped in moss surrounding statues of soldiers who fought not for freedom—but for the continued enslavement of Black people. These aren’t innocent artifacts of history. They’re symbols of a narrative built to justify hate. The Confederate Constitution wasn’t about taxes or states’ rights. It was about the right to own people. Propaganda and misinformation were fed to an entire region to support an economy and identity rooted in inhumanity. That, too, is psychological warfare—and its ghosts are still with us.

I often hear white individuals speak about "reverse racism." They throw that term around whenever they feel discomfort in conversations about race or when they’re asked to confront privilege. They claim oppression when they’re held accountable, when others are centered, or when equality feels like a loss of power. But that’s not racism. Racism involves systemic power. It’s not about individual moments of discomfort. It’s about patterns, privilege, and history.

What’s labeled as "reverse racism" is often just the shifting of power toward equity. It feels unfamiliar, even threatening, to those who’ve always held the advantage. But fairness is not oppression. Equality doesn’t mean someone else’s silence. It means shared space. It means accountability. It means growth.

A 2021 study in Frontiers in Psychology explains how herd mentality influences racism. When in groups, people often conform to dominant attitudes, even harmful ones, to avoid being the outsider. Group dynamics reduce personal accountability, and hate becomes contagious. That’s why racism feels louder in crowds, more dangerous in institutions, and more potent online. The herd amplifies the bias.

Racism isn’t just a Southern problem. I remember my grandfather from Wisconsin telling me he’d disown me if I married a Black man. That was in the North. Racism is everywhere—in cities like Milwaukee, where the racial divide shows in housing, education, and policing. The hurt is nationwide.

And yet, in all this, I ask myself: how do I make a difference? How do I change this? The answer isn’t always in protests or policies—though those matter. Sometimes it’s in the quiet acts: in listening, in kindness, in empathy.

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. It’s a powerful tool, and it starts with each of us. It starts when we look in the mirror, acknowledge our biases, and choose to see one another fully. Humanity isn’t a competition. It’s a shared space we must nurture.

But it’s not just racism between races. There is racism within the Black community itself. I’ve seen it. Among bikers and within broader Black spaces, internalized racism divides us. Skin tone, speech, lifestyle, and background become reasons to judge, exclude, or diminish one another. This internal division is painful. It’s a scar left by centuries of oppression and conditioning. And it only hurts us further.

We can't make everyone happy. Life doesn’t work that way. But we can try. We can choose grace. We can choose to build bridges instead of walls. We can choose to listen, to heal, and to hold each other accountable with love.

These ancestors— theirs—still battle through them in subtle ways. But it’s time to end that war. It’s time to remember, to learn, and to act. Not everything in this world is sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes it’s dark. Sometimes it’s hard. But truth lives there. And truth is where healing begins.

That’s the world I want my son—and his children—to grow up in. A world rooted in honesty, in humanity, and in hope.

Sources: I found some amazing sources as I have written this. It is important to check your perception on things. I pray these things help. We can observe things, but sometimes our perceptions, and beliefs can cause us to be wrong.

🔹 Slavery and Its Brutality

Claim: Slavery was abuse, not a benign institution.

• Source: Edward E. Baptist, The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism (2014).

  • Baptist documents the systemic violence and economic exploitation that defined slavery in the U.S.

• Smithsonian Magazine: "The Truth About Slavery in America"

🔹 Confederate Monuments and Historical Myth

Claim: Confederate monuments represent a false narrative built to justify slavery.

• Source: Karen L. Cox, No Common Ground: Confederate Monuments and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice (2021).

  • Explores how monuments were created during the Jim Crow era to reinforce white supremacy.

• American Historical Association Statement on Confederate Monuments: AHA's position

🔹 “Reverse Racism” and Power Structures

Claim: Reverse racism is a mischaracterization—racism is systemic and rooted in power dynamics.

• Source: Beverly Daniel Tatum, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? (1997, updated 2017).

  • Discusses racism as a system of advantage based on race, not just personal prejudice.

• Harvard Business Review: “What Is Reverse Racism, and Why It Doesn’t Exist”

🔹 Herd Mentality and Racism

Claim: Group behavior intensifies bias and racism.

• Source: Paluck, Elizabeth Levy, and Donald P. Green. “Prejudice Reduction: What Works? A Review and Assessment of Research and Practice.” Annual Review of Psychology 60, no. 1 (2009): 339–367.

• Frontiers in Psychology (2021):

  • Study: “Social Conformity in Racial Bias: Evidence from Group Influence on Decision-Making”.

  • DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.663086

🔹 Racism in Northern States Like Wisconsin

Claim: Racism is not limited to the South.

• Source: Reggie Jackson, Nurturing Diversity Partners (Milwaukee-based educator) has documented segregation in Milwaukee:

  • Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and NPR highlight that Milwaukee is one of the most segregated cities in America.

• Urban Institute: "The Black-White Divide in Housing and Wealth in the Midwest"

🔹 Internalized Racism Within the Black Community

Claim: Racism within the Black community exists and is harmful.

• Source: Pyke, K. D. (2010). “What is Internalized Racial Oppression and Why Don't We Study it?” Sociological Perspectives, 53(4), 551–572.

• Source: Carter, R. T. (2007). “Racism and Psychological and Emotional Injury: Recognizing and Assessing Race-Based Traumatic Stress.” The Counseling Psychologist, 35(1), 13–105.🔹 Slavery and Its Brutality

  Claim: Slavery was abuse, not a benign institution.

  • Source: Edward E. Baptist, The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism (2014).

    • Baptist documents the systemic violence and economic exploitation that defined slavery in the U.S.

  • Smithsonian Magazine: "The Truth About Slavery in America"

  🔹 Confederate Monuments and Historical Myth

  Claim: Confederate monuments represent a false narrative built to justify slavery.

  • Source: Karen L. Cox, No Common Ground: Confederate Monuments and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice (2021).

    • Explores how monuments were created during the Jim Crow era to reinforce white supremacy.

  • American Historical Association Statement on Confederate Monuments: AHA's position

  🔹 “Reverse Racism” and Power Structures

  Claim: Reverse racism is a mischaracterization—racism is systemic and rooted in power dynamics.

  • Source: Beverly Daniel Tatum, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? (1997, updated 2017).

    • Discusses racism as a system of advantage based on race, not just personal prejudice.

  • Harvard Business Review: “What Is Reverse Racism, and Why It Doesn’t Exist”

  🔹 Herd Mentality and Racism

  Claim: Group behavior intensifies bias and racism.

  • Source: Paluck, Elizabeth Levy, and Donald P. Green. “Prejudice Reduction: What Works? A Review and Assessment of Research and Practice.” Annual Review of Psychology 60, no. 1 (2009): 339–367.

  • Frontiers in Psychology (2021):

    • Study: “Social Conformity in Racial Bias: Evidence from Group Influence on Decision-Making”.

    • DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.663086

  🔹 Racism in Northern States Like Wisconsin

  Claim: Racism is not limited to the South.

  • Source: Reggie Jackson, Nurturing Diversity Partners (Milwaukee-based educator) has documented segregation in Milwaukee:

    • Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and NPR highlight that Milwaukee is one of the most segregated cities in America.

  • Urban Institute: "The Black-White Divide in Housing and Wealth in the Midwest"

  🔹 Internalized Racism Within the Black Community

  Claim: Racism within the Black community exists and is harmful.

  • Source: Pyke, K. D. (2010). “What is Internalized Racial Oppression and Why Don't We Study it?” Sociological Perspectives, 53(4), 551–572.

  • Source: Carter, R. T. (2007). “Racism and Psychological and Emotional Injury: Recognizing and Assessing Race-Based Traumatic Stress.” The Counseling Psychologist, 35(1), 13–105.