Let’s begin with the most important issue: my weight.  I know you’ve all been wondering, “What is going on with DeAnne’s weight right now?” and I don’t blame you.  The truth is, if I’d known quarantine was going to last so long I would have paced myself a bit.  Instead, I gained ten pounds. But do not despair!  I lost the Covid-15.  Now I just need to lose the weight I put on before lockdown, which I like to call The Trump-20. 

I believe there are two things you are not allowed to decide for yourself if you are: an artist or a racist.

You can’t call yourself an artist just because you’re creating art.  Creating a painting, sculpture, or dance, is just that – creating.  Your finished product could be the greatest gift to mankind since the Mona Lisa or one step away from craft time at the YMCA, but you don’t get to decide if it is art.  Other people will decide.  Sorry.  Skill, study, practice, practice, practice… these things may get you closer to “good,” but the quality that elevates it to another level – to art – is elusive.  It’s elusive and not at all fair.  Some have it, some don’t.  You get my point? 

Same goes for racism. I have not met one single person who says they are racist.  Yet I know many people whose actions prove otherwise.  Don’t think you are racist?  Here’s a little self -test you can take just for fun.  Do you have a black friend but an All Lives Matter bumper sticker?  You are racist.  You run a charity for underprivileged minority children, but you think a wall between us and Mexico is a good idea?  You are racist.  You really love you some kung pao chicken and Bruce Lee, but you call it The China Virus?  You are racist. You always describe people as that very nice Mexican man or the lovely Asian woman?  You are racist.  Do you watch the storming of the Capitol by people with Confederate flags and anti-semitic T-shirts, but still support Donald Trump because of the “good things he’s done?”  You are most definitely racist.   Sorry.  It’s really difficult to grasp.  I know it is. We all think we’re nice and caring people, but other people will decide if we are racist or not, and they’ll decide based on our words and behavior.  The angrier at me you are right now, the greater the likelihood you are racist. You get my point?.

I have always known racism was a huge issue in this country, but I didn’t know it was THE problem in this country.  My apologies for being so fucking late to the party.  It is at the core of every single political issue.   

I’m not asking you to change what you believe (yet). I am asking you to acknowledge what you believe.  We can’t get better until we admit the problem.  If you are old and/or unable to change and grow, that’s fine but stay out of the way. Enjoy your narrow, limited life of fear and anger but keep your mouth shut.  For the rest of us white people, we can step up.  Admit our shortcomings, our lack of education and the fact we are racist every day with our thoughts and sometimes our actions-even if we don’t think we are. We need to quit being afraid of “not doing it right” and learn. White People, we need to change.  Nothing gets fixed in America until we fix this.  I could go on, but you get my point.