Reply to If you're a POC, do you feel like you need mainly POC friends?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I debated asking this, but this is the only place I can really say this since it's relatively anon.

I'm a Black woman, youngish, no kids yet. I have friends of all racial/ethnic backgrounds. Recently, it's become important to me to have more WOC as friends that I can connect with on a deeper level. I guess it started when my white friends (while supportive) seem to just not get it. They consider themselves "woke" and culturally competent, but ultimately show their ingrained biases in small ways. Also, I feel that a lot of times when the black community as a whole is suffering, they pick that time to make it about their feelings or their problems.

For example, when the protests were going on over the summer, I was feeling anxious about all the racial tensions. I was worried about my black husband walking (and driving) around in public, not the DC area btw). At this time, one of my white friends called me to tell me about her problems and seeking advice about buying a house and relationship issues. While I don't have a problem talking about everyday minutia, I felt kind of annoyed that she claimed to know/understand what Black people were going through (sharing posts on FB, posting #BLM) but the sensitivity seemed to be totally lacking. For contrast, when there had been several antisemitic attacks around the country during Hanukkah, I didn't call up my Orthodox Jewish friend for a regular convo to vent about the random annoyances in my life (like the dog having accidents in the house) because I knew she was probably emotionally spent by all the things going on against her community. I would like to say that while not all white people behave this way, it's a common enough occurrence that it is really obnoxious.

That being said, do you feel like you (a POC) need more friends within your community to relate to during trying times? I imagine it's like how special needs parents need their groups dedicated to parents of kids with SN because it would get old to be in a group full of parents talking about their NT kids and no one seems to be able to relate to your experience.

What do you think?

[/quote]
Your friends are now supposed to make assumptions about you and your emotional state based on your skin color?  Given that black people were not being randomly attacked during the summer, most people would not have assumed your level of anxiety.[/quote]

Wow. You really don't get it do you. Tamir Rice was playing with a TOY gun- he was 12. Atatiana Jefferson was inside a house watching her nephew. Breonna Taylor was asleep when a no-knock warrant was served. Stephon Clark was standing in his back yard. Botham Jean was sitting in his apartment. Elijah McClain was walking home from a convenience store.

Do I need to continue for you to get it? Because there are more. [/quote]

This![/quote]

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